We don't expect much of anyone to rush into the void and preserve customers' access to the twisty half-measure, in its way an ingenious solution to making a fluorescent tube fit an old lamp. But well before the fluorescent went compact it was known for its gastly institutional light and attempts to correct that with coating chemistries only got so far. It's been clear at least since Philips introduced the Hue that LEDs would win in general and decorative lighting as they already were beginning to dominate signage, parking lots and warehouse ceilings and anyplace else it was an ordeal to change a bulb. Giving users the ability to choose their own color carried LEDs beyond what lighting could do before, quieting the desire to preserve the warm light of incandescents' tungsten filaments. That leaves CFLs as a curious side-trip in the history of lighting.
CFLs still make up the second largest share of total consumer lamp shipments according to NEMA's most recent lamp index, released in mid-December, with 27.3% of the shipments. But the year-over-year curve has a slope:"incandescent A-line lamps decreased by 31.5 percent while compact fluorescents lamps (CFL) dropped 28.0 percent."
Halogen A-lines dominate at 48.6%, up 4.6%, but A-line LEDs are riding a rocket, “surging 237.2 percent during the quarter on a year-over-year basis.”
GE's announcement: Leave CFL in the Dark, and Light Up Your Love for LED
NEMA lamp shipments: Another Strong Quarter for LED A-Line Lamp Shipments