Is it correct that CD-i in the USA was better known under the Magnavox brand? I guess Magnavox was better known than Philips, although it' s the same company. Sometimes I think they should have used the Magnavox brand better in relation to its Odyssey history. Philips released exactly the same hardware under the Magnavox brand in USA, can anyone comment on that?
These days Magnavox products are produced by Funai, who has licensed the brand name from Philips. The Magnavox name is still owned by Philips (since 1974).
The reason why Philips took over Magnavox in 1974 was mainly because of the patents and the well-known brand. By that time, Philips was not well known in USA, Magnavox was. The Philips name however was not entirely absent in the USA during the CD-i years. American Interactive Media was renamed Philips Interactive Media of America, not Magnavox Interactive Media. Philips was on all the software boxes. But I'm not sure if there was no Philips CD-i hardware in the USA at all. Was it all Magnavox? It' s the same company, but used in a different way.
In Europe Magnavox was used by Philips as a budget brand, but in USA that was totally different (as far as I know). Their previous console effort, the Magnavox Odyssey 2 in the USA, was the same as the Philips Videopac G7000 in Europe. Same product, different brand name, same company. The same could have been done with CD-i.