Toshiba 1998 Annual Report Download - page 9

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 9 of the 1998 Toshiba annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 58

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58

Toshiba Corporation Annual Report 1998 7.
A. Q U E S T I O N
Q U E S T I O N
Q U E S T I O N
Q U E S T I O N
A. Lower prices in the U.S. hurt our
fiscal 1997 results most. The appearance
Q. SALES IN THIS SEGMENT DECLINED LARGELY ON
THE POOR OVERSEAS AND DOMESTIC PERFORMANCE OF
NOTEBOOK PCS. WHAT IS TOSHIBA’S STRATEGY FOR
RECOVERY IN THIS PRODUCT SECTOR?
of the $1,000 PC symbolizes the severity of the PC
climate. This created a gap between our product line
and the market. Furthermore, an oversupply of TFT
LCD panels led PC makers to step up output. Our
inventories swelled as a result. In the current fiscal
year, we plan to market economy-priced notebook
models and introduce new slim notebook PCs and
more mininotebook PCs that have been popular in
Japan. Price competition is especially stiff in desktops,
where Toshiba has struggled. Here, we are focusing
exclusively on the corporate market, where users
place more value on specific functions. In the U.S.,
Toshiba will enter the server business. To hold down
inventories, the build-to-order system is being used
for notebook PCs. In this way, production can match
sales. To minimize inventories of parts, we will have
suppliers deliver parts on the day PC production
starts. This system is already in place in Japan. We
expect to initiate it in the August-September time
frame in the U.S. and Europe.
Toshiba’s “ Equium” series of unitized LCD
panels doubles usable desktop space. Featur-
ing high-speed operation, network compat-
ibility and low energy consumption, these
units meet all the needs of corporate users.
Information & Communication Systems—Interview
Toshiba Corporation Annual Report 1998 7.
In July 1998, Toshiba
began selling a slim
notebook PC, a popular
market sector in Japan.
Shown here is a B5-sized
unit that is the slimmest
in the world at only
19.8mm.
This slim mininotebook PC, which weighs
only 820 grams, features the world’s
most slender HDD and a lightweight
magnesium body. A high-speed CPU and
next-generation energy saving technol-
ogy add still more value.