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What Happened to GE? (2021)

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Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#31

Post by Analemma_ »

yodon wrote: post #22
rcyeh wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GE no longer owns or operates the GE Appliances business. Haier bought GE Appliances in 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Appliances

Haier is a remarkable company. It's not an accident that GE appliances took off after Haier purchased it.

It's darkly amusing that, at least for me and others on this thread, keeping the "GE" brand label is probably costing them sales. I also wouldn't even glance at a GE-branded home appliance if I were in the market, on the assumption it was cost-cutting trash, but if it's true that a different company has bought the brand and is making good stuff under it, now suddenly I might be interested. Which is the opposite of how buying the rights to a "classic" brand is supposed to work.

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#33

Post by kortilla »

QuadmasterXLII wrote: post #17
NoboruWataya wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be interested in reading the book to get more detail on that. Sale and leasebacks (which often include buyback options) are a fairly common capital management measurement in the asset finance sector.[0] GE could have been committing fraud or this could be sensationalist reporting of a mundane financial management technique. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaseback

So fraud?

No, it changes the risk profile.

It’s not much different to selling your house to someone and then renting it back.

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#34

Post by hackernewds »

tharne wrote: post #5

What happened to GE? Simple. Jack Welch killed the golden goose. During his tenure he shifted focus and money away from long-term R&D in the name of boosting quarterly profits. Product development took a back seat to selling "services", i.e. focus more on selling contracts around maintaining your turbines than you do on developing and manufacturing good turbines in the first place. I won't even get into the heavy bor…

"Killed the golden goose" sounds kinda like what the administration is doing in California, especially San Francisco

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#35

Post by detourdog »

tharne wrote: post #5

What happened to GE? Simple. Jack Welch killed the golden goose. During his tenure he shifted focus and money away from long-term R&D in the name of boosting quarterly profits. Product development took a back seat to selling "services", i.e. focus more on selling contracts around maintaining your turbines than you do on developing and manufacturing good turbines in the first place. I won't even get into the heavy bor…

You forgot moved the headquarters from Pittsfield Massachusetts to Rockefeller center.

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#36

Post by hackernewds »

analog31 wrote: post #8
tharne wrote: post #5

What happened to GE? Simple. Jack Welch killed the golden goose. During his tenure he shifted focus and money away from long-term R&D in the name of boosting quarterly profits. Product development took a back seat to selling "services", i.e. focus more on selling contracts around maintaining your turbines than you do on developing and manufacturing good turbines in the first place. I won't even get into the heavy bor…

There was a time when American corporations discovered that financial services were more profitable than manufacturing. The biggest division of GM was GMAC. The "profits" were at least partially fraudulent -- division managers cooking the books in order to make their numbers. I seem to recall that some of them went to prison.

Multiple companies have turned into glorified financial firms with their core product becoming auxillary. Look at airline credit cards, Starbucks loyalty cards, Block's Bitcoin repository, AMZN investing in Rivian and so on.

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#37

Post by detourdog »

jrmg wrote: post #11

When researching washing machines recently, I was surprised to see that probably the most innovative mass-market systems available right now are from GE. They’ve brought out a heat-pump based low-energy use combined washer/dryer* that supposedly performs great - something that can’t be said for existing combo or low energy systems. I was surprised to see innovative appliances from GE! I thought they had been reduced…

Asko has that and a condensing dryer that is more efficient. GE makes great products that but in my experience engineered their parts to last about 8 years.

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#38

Post by ProjectArcturis »

Analemma_ wrote: post #31
yodon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haier is a remarkable company. It's not an accident that GE appliances took off after Haier purchased it.

It's darkly amusing that, at least for me and others on this thread, keeping the "GE" brand label is probably costing them sales. I also wouldn't even glance at a GE-branded home appliance if I were in the market, on the assumption it was cost-cutting trash, but if it's true that a different company has bought the brand and is making good stuff under it, now suddenly I might be interested. Which is the opposite of ho…

My 2020 GE dishwasher broke after less than a year, and they claimed it had been more than a year so I wouldn't be covered by warranty. Fortunately I had an email receipt, but it certainly soured me on anything labeled GE.

Re: What Happened to GE? (2021)

#39

Post by skybrian »

jrmg wrote: post #11

When researching washing machines recently, I was surprised to see that probably the most innovative mass-market systems available right now are from GE. They’ve brought out a heat-pump based low-energy use combined washer/dryer* that supposedly performs great - something that can’t be said for existing combo or low energy systems. I was surprised to see innovative appliances from GE! I thought they had been reduced…

On Home Depot, reviews are mostly positive, but there are some complaints about wrinkles.
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