"GE will become the world's best infrastructure and technology company," said Jim Immelt, GE's chairman and chief executive. The sale of the appliance business division is a development strategy that GE is currently implementing. This year GE has gradually spun off its retail business, and its core business has shifted to areas such as energy, healthcare, home, transportation, and finance.

GE is accelerating its strategy for committing to growth- and high-reliability infrastructure-related businesses. In June of this year, GE announced that it had reached an agreement with Alstom of France for the acquisition of its thermal power business for approximately US$16.9 billion. It also announced that it will focus on commercial business and narrow down its consumer business.

However, there is one business that belongs to the same department as the home appliance, but it is still being retained. That's lighting business. Why does GE retain its lighting business? The reason is that although we feel that lighting is mainly used in homes, the demand in the commercial sector is actually expected to expand.

In July this year, GE announced that it has collaborated with a company specializing in vegetable cultivation in Tagajo City, Miyagi Prefecture, to develop a fully artificial light plant factory using LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting. Every day, no matter how the weather is, 10,000 stable quality lettuces can be harvested every day.

Compared with fluorescent lamps, LED lighting for plant cultivation can reduce power consumption by 40%. By irradiating light suitable for growing vegetables, the harvesting volume can be increased by 50%. In addition, by adjusting the light, the day-night cycle can be artificially accelerated. Make plants grow faster than 2.5 times when cultivated in outdoor fields.

GE also plans to extend LED lighting to other areas.

GE also collaborated with a software company in Boston, USA, to develop LED lighting systems that can send messages to consumers' smartphones and tablets shopping at retail stores. The system uses "visible light communication" technology that emits light that is not visible to the naked eye but can be recognized by cameras such as smartphones. You can send information about the main products and special products, coupons, etc. to customers standing near the LED lighting.

GE's long-established business will also be carefully screened according to the principle of whether there is a future or not, so as to remove obstacles to development and further accelerate the transformation of its business structure.