I found a good use for CFLs. My garage door opener eats bulbs alive. Even a heavy duty bulb filament will only last a week or so - less for a normal filament bulb. Hard to tell if it is electrical or due to vibration, but my son-in law is in the door business went over the door alignment and suggested using a CFL and it lasted about 3 years before it died. - It was from China, but I would never complain after the improvement. The downside is that in very cold weather (-0 F), the bulb is a little dim when it starts, but it works good enough - fine after a few minutes.
In my townhouse, the circuit the opener is plugged into is the same circuit that my bedroom and computer are on, with no apparent problems.
Apparently, the CFLs handle vibration better even when not used vertically.
People buy on price and that is why they come from China, since they can make anything to the purchasers/importers standards.
Much of the Walmart (and others) shipments came to the U.S. on a huge modern ship that is too fast, too big and too long to get through most canals, but it is several days faster across the Pacific and has crew of only 13 (plus cooks). I would think that light bulbs would be the last thing to ship that way because of the space they take, but they might be good to fill up space if the rest of the shipment is heavy.
Dick