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Last-Gasp Goods

By Adam Aston

Compact fluorescents are hot sellers, and Congress passed a bill banning incandescent bulbs by 2014. So why is GE planning to sell a new high-efficiency incandescent? It’s a case of “last gasp” inspiration, says Harvard B-school professor Daniel Snow in January’s Harvard Business Review. Snow says last gasps are common when new technologies are poised to replace older ones, partly because some of the new tech can benefit incumbents. Carburetors, he says, lasted an extra decade or so by adapting electronics designed for the fuel injectors that replaced them. “New-tech companies can’t count out old players,” he says. Both must expect surprises in transition periods.