Purpose
The cartel served as a convenient way to lower costs and worked to cap the life expectancy of light bulbs at 1000 hours, while at the same time hiking prices without fear of competition. Members' bulbs were regularly tested and fines were levied for bulbs that lasted more than 1000 hours. A 1929 table lists exactly how many Swiss francs had to be paid, depending on the exceeding hours of lifetime. This was not public knowledge at the time, and the cartel could point to standardization of light bulbs as an alternative rationale for the organization.
The cartel claimed that 1000 hours was a reasonable optimum life expectancy for most bulbs, and that a longer lifetime could be obtained only at the expense of efficiency: more electricity is wasted as heat and less light is obtained.
The Phoebus Cartel divided the world’s lamp markets into three categories:
- home territories, the home country of individual manufacturers
- British overseas territories, under control of Associated Electrical Industries, Osram, Philips, and Tungsram
- common territory, the rest of the world
Read more about this topic: Phoebus Cartel
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“Culture is the tacit agreement to let the means of subsistence disappear behind the purpose of existence. Civilization is the subordination of the latter to the former.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
“God sent children for another purpose than merely to keep up the race—to enlarge our hears; and to make us unselfish and full of kindly sympathies and affections; to give our souls higher aims; to call out all our faculties to extended enterprise and exertion; and to bring round our firesides bright faces, happy smiles, and loving, tender hearts.”
—Mary Botham Howitt (20th century)
“I have never doubted your courage and devotion to the cause. But you have just lost a Division, and prima facie the fault is upon you; and while that remains unchanged, for me to put you in command again, is to justly subject me to the charge of having put you there on purpose to have you lose another.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)