Toshiba 2004 Annual Report Download - page 20

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Semiconductor Company
The Semiconductor Company boosted year-on-year sales and
profit in fiscal 2003 on the strength of excellent sales of
NAND flash memories, growth in MCPs for mobile phones
and another year of steady performance in discrete devices.
Looking ahead, the company anticipates continued sales
growth in digital consumer products and mobile devices in
fiscal 2004, and a performance that points the way to fur-
ther growth and gains in profits.
ICs drive advances in the growth markets of digital con-
sumer products and mobile devices, and the Semiconductor
Company will draw on cutting-edge process technology and
sophisticated manufacturing techniques to deliver a wide
range of leading products to the global market.
The Semiconductor Company will continue to promote
balanced management in its three key business areas: dis-
crete devices, where the company is the world No. 1; system
LSIs; and memories. The System LSI Divisions look for ex-
panded demand in digital consumer products and mobile
devices, while the Memory Division will continue to increase
sales in products for cellular phones with cameras and mem-
ory cards.
In the coming year, the Semiconductor Company will
continue to focus on discrete devices, analog ICs and NAND
flash memories, highly profitable and stable business, and
inject resources into development of competitive products and
strengthened cost competitiveness. Resources will be partic-
ularly directed to high-value-added products such as SoCs.
Here, Toshiba will reinforce its support for software and hard-
ware development to deliver competitive, high-quality products
that satisfy diverse customer needs and secure the Semicon-
ductor Company’s position as a total solutions provider.
Display Devices & Components Control Center
Falling prices for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and CRTs
in fiscal 2003 resulted in an overall loss in this business
area. Toshiba is responding resolutely. We will terminate the
lithium-ion rechargeable battery business and dissolve A&T
Battery Corporation.
In a move to revitalize the CRT business, we moved it into
a joint venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.,
and established MT Picture Display Co., Ltd., in April 2003.
Following on from this, we spun off two other businesses
into independent companies. The material and components
businesses in high-precision processing components and
energy and industrial materials became Toshiba Materials
Co., Ltd., and the electron tubes businesses, covering medical
CT scanners and X-ray tubes, became Toshiba Electron Tubes &
Devices Co., Ltd. These measures will support the businesses
4-Gigabit NAND
To meet growing demand for large-capacity memory cards, Toshiba has used
single-die, multi-level cell (MLC) technology to commercialize a 4Gb NAND
flash memory card, the larg-
est capacity in the industry.
NAND flash memory is ideally
suited for recording large
volumes of data. The new
product records data eight
times faster than our previ-
ous MLC product.
Input Display
Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology has developed the world’s first de-
vice that both inputs and displays color images.
Electronic Devices
As a Toshiba Group core business, the electronic devices business aims for consistent high growth
and profitability. While promoting a proactive presence in the global market, close attention is paid to
high-potential customers in China and other Asian countries, and to increased sales in the digital
consumer and mobile product areas, both seen as strong growth areas in coming years.
lifestyles and work styles will see dramatic transformations
as the mobile office and work at home concepts reach a new
level of maturity and popularity. All thanks to total access to
information via broadband and wireless networks.
The Personal Computer & Network Company will offer a
comprehensive lineup of network-ready devices, portable PCs,
PDAs and Internet appliance (IA) servers among them, all
equipped with cutting-edge, differentiated technologies from
Toshiba Group. These products will support us in our activi-
ties in the three essential spheres of a society of ubiquitous
networks: the home, the office and mobile applications.
In developing new products and services, the Personal
Computer & Network Company listens very closely to VOC—
the voices of customers. Analysis of this information supports
the company in launching practical products and services that
combine a high degree of originality with network readiness.
Through this approach, Toshiba seeks to deliver inspirational
products that create a comfortable computing environment.