GE ties up with Qualcomm, Apple to boost lighting arm

General Electric Co. on Monday announced collaborations with Qualcomm Inc. and Apple Inc. as it uses digital technology and the growing appetite for data to reinvigorate its 130-year-old lighting business.

With chipmaker Qualcomm, GE is offering retailers a way to connect with shoppers’ smartphones through technology embedded in LED light bulbs, the company said. One use of the “indoor positioning” technology could be to transmit customized coupons to shoppers depending on their store location.

GE also said it will produce an LED bulb compatible with Apple’s yet-to-launch connected-device platform HomeKit. The bulb can change colours to align with the natural rhythms of the body.

The tie-ups underscore GE’s plans to dive into the emer- ging and increasingly competitive market for connected lighting that integrates with smart devices.

While GE sees an opportunity in selling energy-efficient LED bulbs, it will seek to use sensors and other technology embedded in LEDs to the advantage of consumers, businesses and cities, said Beth Comstock, who leads GE Business Innovations.

Services offered by GE stand to provide revenue that could offset pressure should the LED bulb business become more commoditized.

“There’s now a data stream from light that is going to create opportunity to be more productive,” said Comstock.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm, the world’s largest designer of phone chips and maker of the iPhone’s cellular modem, is at a crossroads. Activist investor Barry Rosenstein has been pushing Qualcomm to spin off its chipset business as part of a strategic review of options to boost shareholder value. Qual- comm’s profit is generated by the fees it collects from smartphone makers that license its technology.

Samsung, a longtime customer, last week ditched Qualcomm components for its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The chipmaker says Samsung will also forgo its processors in the next Galaxy Note phones.

GE itself is undergoing a sweeping overhaul, jettisoning the bulk of its finance division to focus on big-ticket industrial products such as jet engines and power turbines.

Some analysts have speculated the U.S. conglomerate will divest lighting after deciding last year to sell its appliances segment and moves by Siemens and Philips to hive off lighting units. GE Lighting totalled about US$2.5 billion in revenue last year, 2.3 per cent of the company’s overall industrial sales.

Comstock said lighting fits smoothly with GE chief executive Jeff Immelt’s desire to marry software and analytics with GE’s various industrial equipment, which GE calls the “Industrial Internet.”

“LEDs plus software, it helps GE continue its Industrial Internet expansion and I think the lighting business has a big role in GE’s future because of that,” Comstock said.