The Explorers' Club, № MCXXXV

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
15 January 1925: The Phoebus Cartel—General Electric (United States), Philips (The Netherlands), Tungsram (Hungary), Associated Electrical Industries (United Kingdom), Tokyo Electric (Japan), Osram (Germany), E.L.I.N. (Austria), & La Compagnie des Lampes (France) standardized a 1,000-hour life for incandescent ligh bulbs (planned obsolescence) & protected each other from competition.

Commentary: The cartel was agreed to endure for thirty years, until 1955, but was cut short in 1939 by the advent of the Second World War.

We regret not publishing an episode on the Phoebus Cartel a year ago, in 2025.

Lest we forget.