General Electric will no longer make lightbulbs. In May, GE announced that it is selling its lighting business to Savant Systems Inc., a seller of home-automation technology. GE Lighting will remain in Cleveland, and its more than 700 employees will transfer to Savant, which will also get a long-term license for the GE brand.
The move is not surprising. Lighting is a commodity now, and GE wants to focus on assembling high-margin products, like gas turbines, jet engines and medical imaging equipment. Still, the sale feels wrong. The lighting division traces its roots to the company’s founding 130 years ago, when Thomas Edison invented the first viable incandescent lamp. Since then, GE Lighting was at the forefront of every major lighting innovation. In 1935, the first Major League Baseball night game was played under GE lights. A GE engineer invented the LED light in 1962, and the company introduced the first energy-saving fluorescent bulb in 1974. GE’s slogan—we bring good things to life—was inspired by the success of the lighting business.