Toshiba bares plan to hike market share

MANILA, Philippines - Toshiba Philippines, the newly-established subsidiary of Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp., expects to gain a bigger share of the Philippine market as the technology firm strengthens its logistics, marketing and after-sales services here.

“We will expand our share by introducing local fit products that are customized for the Philippine market. We will strengthen our service support nationwide,” Toshiba Philippines president Tomoyasu Yamamoto said yesterday.

In April, Toshiba Philippines started operations at its new Makati headquarters.

The technology firm said it already has market shares of four percent for LCD TVs and six percent for personal computers as of end of its fiscal year ending March 2011, equivalent to 20,000 TVs and 50,000 PCs sold in the last fiscal year.

For the fiscal year ending March 2012, Toshiba aims to achieve market share of 10 percent for LCD TVs, nine percent for personal computers, four percent for tablets and two percent for refrigerators.

These are expected to grow further to 20 percent and 12 percent for TVs and PCs, respectively, and 10 percent for both tablets and refrigerators by 2013.

Toshiba has achieved a strong presence in the ASEAN market last year with growth of nearly 10 points, and became the top three in the region. Extending reach and finding growth in the Philippines is pivotal to further reinforce in this region. Toshiba said the Philippine economy continues to expand, with key markets recording dynamic growth.

 The firm said this is true in the digital products segments, and in the upcoming years, the market size is expected to grow significantly.

With its unified sales and marketing operation providing nationwide market coverage, Toshiba has put in place a Philippine centric business structure that promotes the development and delivery of products customized to meet the needs of customers in the Philippines. – With Mary Ann Reyes