[adhesive_wombat]

There's a fairly large advanced hi-tech industry hub in the Netherlands. Philips and ASML are big names, but there are very many more. As they're all fairly near each other on the scale of things (often near Eindhoven, with more "non-physical" tech in Amsterdam), there's some Silicon Valley-style network effects at play.

Also French labour laws and norms are probably frightening to union-phobic Big Tech companies.

[FirmwareBurner]

Philips is irelevant in tech today other than medical devices. All they make today is rebadging Chinese white goods.

[adhesive_wombat]

Plenty of things that used to be Philips are still in Eindhoven, like NXP (semiconductors) and Signify (lighting, including Hue). Philips has been a huge part of what made the Eindhoven area a high-tech industry hub, even if much of it is under new ownership structures.

[FirmwareBurner]

Yes, in the past. That's what I said Philips is irelevant today. You're not contradicting me.

[adhesive_wombat]

It's not irrelevant to why Eindhoven is how it is today, in the same way that HP is a split-up shadow of what is former influential self, but it's partly why Google now is in Silicon Valley.

[FirmwareBurner]

Just because it was relevant in the past doesn't mean it's also somehow relevant today if it stopped innovating, and it has. Glorious history doesn't pay your bills or increase your stock.