What would GE's founder Thomas Edison have said? The company has confirmed that it has stopped developing a high efficiency version of its first product – the incandescent lightbulb.
Research on the product was aiming to create household lighting as efficient as a compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL), but without the hazardous chemicals that represent the main environmental flaw in CFLs.
However, the company has said that it will now focus solely on developing fluorescent and LED-based technologies for household use.
The company first announced its high efficiency incandescent (HEI) lightbulb development programme in February last year. The product would have eventually been as efficient as the now-popular CFLs but without the added mercury that makes them difficult to dispose of.
Instead, the company will continue selling its Energy Smart CFL products – and is introducing another later this month – while it continues work on LED and organic LED (OLED) products.
The company already sells LED lighting for specialist applications, but is confident the technology can make the breakthrough into the wider market.
In a statement initially released to the Clean Break blog, GE confirmed that LEDs and OLEDs would now be its main focus for future lighting research.
"Research and development of these technologies is moving at an impressive pace and will be ready for general lighting in the near future," the company said. "LEDs and OLEDs used in general lighting are now poised to surpass the projected efficiency levels of HEI, along with other energy-efficient technologies like fluorescent, and have the additional benefits of long life and durability."
The axing of the incandescent bulb programme is the latest in a series of changes to GE's lighting business in the last year.
Last October it announced a major restructuring of the lighting unit, closing all of its lighting operations in Brazil and shutting down some US plants. Earlier this year, it was also reported to be mulling the divestment of its entire Consumer and Industrial unit, of which the lighting business was a part.
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