Philips Hires Schuster To Run Its N.A. Pro Display Business; King Shifts To Hotel TV Vertical

October 21, 2021 by Dave Haynes

PPDS, the company that markets Philips Professional TV and Philips digital signage solutions, has brought on industry vet to Vince Schuster to run the commercial pro display business and put another pro AV lifer, Joe King, in a new leadership gig running the hospitality TV business.

Schuster will be well-known to pro AV people, having worked high up at Panasonic, Planar and MediaStar. He will be based in the greater Washington, D.C. area, and report in to PPDS GM Chris Colpaert.

“Vince is a natural leader,” says his new boss Colpaert, “and his knowledge and experience of the AV industry are second to none. North America is an important and growing market for PPDS and we see some incredible opportunities ahead with our ever-evolving portfolio of display solutions. Vince was the standout choice to support our ambitions and to take this company to the next level in North America and achieving its potential.”

Philips has been coming on, a lot, in the last two-three years, both in product and market share. The software guys I talk to have a lot of respect for the Android-driven smart displays in various series.

King, who has been with Philips pretty much his whole career, has switched to a newly-created leadership role, heading up the hospitality business in North America, overseeing the overall business strategy, including sales, marketing, product development and service. PPDS got back into to the hospitality market in 2021, launching the Philips MediaSuite Android pro TV range in the country for the first time.