Before General Electric was founded, there existed Thomson-Houston which merged with Edison General Electric Co in 1892 to form the General Electric Company.

A sister company formed in Paris France in 1893, called the Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston.

RCA (Radio Corporation of America) was founded by GE in 1919. In 1932 GE had to divest the division of the company due to an antitrust suit. GE continued to make electronics however under their name.

In 1986, GE reacquired the RCA brand and assets for $6.3 billion. Just after, at 1987, GE sold its GE and RCA electronics divisions to the French Thomson Multimedia company, which was originally that same Thomson-Houston from 1893. With its US headquartered at GE electronics in Indianapolis, IN Thomson made GE and RCA electronics since.

In December 2007, Thomson Multimedia sold its audio-video business outside of France to Audiovox, which ended GE's long electronics history, other than telephones, which Thomson continued to make until 2009, when the division was sold. Thomson continued to make electronics under the RCA brand for a few years after.

Today RCA electronics are sourced from a variety of makers, including Audiovox (now VOXX), AVC multimedia, TCL and others. GE is only in electronics as an accessory brand now, such as surge protectors, remotes and antennas, mainly sourced from Jasco Products.