GE brand returns to TV market

The General Electric brand name is returning to the TV marketplace, through a joint venture of GE and Taiwanese firm Tatung. The new firm, General Displays & Technologies, will be owned 51% by Tatung and 49% by GE.

Dormant since Thomson gave up its license for televisions in late 2004, the GE brand has been eyed by a number of Asian companies looking to a well-established brand they could piggyback on to build U.S. flat-panel TV distribution businesses. [...]

GDT will design, market and service its GE-branded HDTVs, which are planned to be enhanced with Internet access capability for receiving IPTV distributed content, including new services planned from NBC Universal and others. The first series of premium product offerings will be available to consumers in spring 2009.