Toshiba ends production of incandescent lamp bulbs
Toshiba Corporation has ended 120 years of tungsten filament lamp bulb production. A forerunner of Toshiba was the first company to manufacture the bulbs in Japan.
It decided to focus on environmentally friendly lighting in 2008 and since then has been promoting a transition to new products, particularly LED lighting. the end of incandescent bulb production has environmental benefits too. The company says it will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 430 000 tonnes a year, measured against the benckmark year of 2008 when 20 million bulbs were produced.
In 1890, Ichisuke Fujioka, one of the leading engineers of the time, established Hakunetsu-sha & Co, Ltd, one of the companies that eventually merged into Toshiba, as Japan's first manufacturer of incandescent light bulbs. From an initial production of only 10 bulbs a day, production climbed to a peak of 78 million a year, and a cumulative shipments of 4.07 billion bulbs. Production has been declining since 2000.
The end of incandescent bulb production marks the end of the road for more than 100 product lines. And although it will continue to produce speciality incandescent bulbs, Toshiba seems set for a future in LED lighting.
