General Electric has decided to end all plans for revitalizing their century-old incandescent bulbs. Instead, it plans to focus on LEDs and OLEDs.

It was February of 2007 that GE announced a high efficiency incandescent (HEI) bulb that was comparable to that of compact fluorescents (CFL). The HEI bulb provided better light quality and without any nasty mercury. The bulb was expected to hit the market sometime in 2010. But announcements of Australia, Canada, and even some U.S. states planning to ban the bulb made companies like GE and Philips question their longevity. Especially when these bans would start as early as 2012.

GE has planned to restructure its light bulb business in October of 2007. Harvard business school professor Daniel Snow claims that GE’s HEI was the company’s “last gasp” of inspiration on the Edison bulb. While now, GE spokesman David Schuellerman announced GE’s current plans: GE Consumers & Industrial and GE Global Research have suspended the development of the high-efficiency incandescent lamp (HEI) to place greater focus and investment on what we believe will be the ultimate in energy efficient lighting —LEDs and OLEDs. Research and development of these technologies is moving at an impressive pace and will be ready for general lighting in the near future.

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.