The Phoebus cartel was a 1920s-1930s international agreement among lightbulb manufacturers to deliberately shorten bulb lifespan and fix prices, pioneering what's now called planned obsolescence. The century-old conspiracy continues to shape discussions about corporate manipulation of product durability in modern consumer goods.
·Manufacturers colluded to reduce lightbulb lifespans from 2,500 hours to 1,000 hours to increase replacement sales
·The cartel established strict quotas and penalties for members producing longer-lasting bulbs
·The Phoebus model became the blueprint for planned obsolescence strategies across industries
·Modern tech companies face similar scrutiny for deliberately limiting product longevity
·A legendary 100,000-hour bulb was suppressed by cartel members to protect profit margins
drawn from Chartbook | Adam Tooze, The Times of Israel, Bloomberg.com, BBC · updated 127d ago