General Electric Makes The Switch Away From Lightbulbs

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May 27th, 2020

A lightbulb is displayed at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2015. GE has been making lightbulbs for more than a century, but is now selling its lighting business.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images

For the first time in its nearly 130-year history, General Electric will no longer be making and selling light bulbs. GE is selling its lighting business to Savant Systems.

GE was founded in 1892 by a merger between Thomas Edison’s Edison General Electric Co., which made Edison’s famous incandescent bulb as well as other inventions, and a rival business.

Throughout the 20th century, GE kept making lightbulbs — and carried on Edison’s tradition of experimentation and innovation by perfecting the fluorescent bulb, halogen bulb and LED, among other lighting innovations.

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