General Electric to move out of the appliance business
GE announced that it would sell off yet another piece of the conglomerate, namely the appliance business. GE started selling appliances in 1907, and the division now represents $7 billion in sales, less than 5% of the company. The division sells refrigerators, dishwashers, and other appliances.
The move is part of an ongoing move to simplify the company and restore the company to growth. Last year it sold its plastics division, and it has been getting rid of its insurance and some of its consumer financial operations. And with housing starts almost nil, the prospect for appliance sales don't look too great.
The likely buyer is a foreign company wanting to establish a beachhead in the US. Among those mentioned are Germany's Bosch, Dutch-based Phillips Electronics, South Korea's LG, and China's Haier. It is estimated that the sale could fetch as much as $5 billion. Of course, a year ago (before the collapse of the US housing market), it might have been worth a lot more.
GE is one of the last true conglomerates and it clearly sees the problems with too extensive diversification. We expect even more sell-offs- can the light bulb business, GE's last major consumer business be next?
10:21:36 PM 
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