What price the General Electric name? Pretty high, I would suspect, and extremely tempting for an Asian manufacturer of washing machines and air conditioners that wants to build a global business.

GE confirmed this morning that it is “reviewing strategic options” for its consumer appliances division. I guess that, in this context, “reviewing strategic options” must mean “selling, but perhaps holding on to a little stake”.

Its reasoning is interesting because it tells you all you need to know about how Asian manufacturers now dominate the consumer appliance market. Here is part of Jeff Immelt’s statement:

It remains primarily a U.S. business, meaning its fortunes are tied to the rise and fall of a single market. We want to make this good business great again by finding the right strategic solution – a solution that will give Appliances the global reach and investment required to compete more effectively.

This is one of those statements that makes a great deal of sense looked at from one perspective, and no sense whatever looked at another way.

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