Toshiba to quit RP laptop production

**RedHorse** · December 21st, 2004 10:54 PM

TOKYO - Japan's Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it would stop manufacturing notebook computers at its Philippine plant by the end of the year, shifting production to its main PC factory in Hangzhou, China, to cut costs.

Hit by aggressive pricing by Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., Toshiba in the last business year cut the earnings forecast for its PC and PC peripherals division three times, and is now restructuring the business.

"As part of restructuring efforts, we are aiming to boost the ratio of outsourcing to over 50 percent. Naturally, the ratio of our own PC production is declining, making it more reasonable to consolidate production sites," a Toshiba spokesman said.

Toshiba's move underscores mounting pressure to cut costs and streamline operations to survive the white-hot competition in the global PC market.

International Business Machines Corp. earlier this month announced it is selling its PC-making business to China's largest personal computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd. for $1.25 billion, marking the US firm's retreat from an industry it helped pioneer in 1981.

Toshiba's Philippine plant, which is located in Laguna province and employs about 6,500 people, makes hard disk drives as well as notebook PCs.

Toshiba said it aims to secure employment for PC workers as much as possible by shifting them to disk drive production.

Toshiba, the world's third-largest notebook PC maker, declined to comment on the expected size of cost savings from the planned move.

The Philippine plant currently manufactures 100,000 notebook PCs a month, while Toshiba aims to double annual PC production at the Hangzhou plant to 3 million units by the year ending in March 2006.

Toshiba shares were up 0.91 percent at 443 yen by late afternoon Tuesday, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electric machinery index , which rose 0.53 percent.

**RedHorse** · December 21st, 2004 10:55 PM

the figures speak:

The Philippine plant currently manufactures 100,000 notebook PCs a month, while Toshiba aims to double annual PC production at the Hangzhou plant to 3 million units by the year ending in March 2006.

displaced workers:

Toshiba's Philippine plant, which is located in Laguna province and employs about 6,500 people, makes hard disk drives as well as notebook PCs.

**benchph1** · December 21st, 2004 10:58 PM

that is another bang on the philippine economy

haaaaayyyy.....

**xchm** · December 21st, 2004 11:15 PM

It's really sad but we can't blame Toshiba for making this move.

**tagalnasaabroad** · December 21st, 2004 11:20 PM

mga negosyante talaga..but to those directly affected it's a challenge in life, imho..i'm sure these workers are qualified in their own field of expertise..apply ulit di lang naman toshiba ang employer satin, anoh..?!

**yebo** · December 21st, 2004 11:44 PM

mahal kasi ang notebooks nila e. have any one seen this Balance Notebook sold at Wall Mart stores in the US? search nyo Balance Notebook and you'll see it. their linux based unit (LINSPIRE OS) sells for only US$498. their Windows based units start at $548. tindi ng competition ngayon sa notebook computers so they just have to cut costs every chance they get.

**mazdamazda** · December 28th, 2004 01:08 PM

hmmm... quite contrary to the earlier report...

Toshiba considering moving notebook production to RP

Updated 10:38pm (Mla time) Dec 27, 2004
By Erwin Lemuel Oliva
INQ7.net

JAPANESE electronics firm Toshiba is considering moving its notebook PC production to the Philippines due to a “realignment strategy,” a government official said.

Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar Purisima also said Toshiba is planning to make the Philippines its hub for manufacturing storage devices.

As an initial move, the Japanese electronics firm announced that it would expand its global storage device manufacturing operations in the Philippines by 20 percent.

This would mean more jobs for technically skilled workers who have engineering backgrounds in the country, said Purisima.

“Toshiba has shown faith in the country’s capability to produce modern devices which require high-end technical skills from the country’s workforce. The expansion will definitely have an impact on the new technology and skills that the country, especially our engineers and technicians, will acquire.”

The Philippine expansion is part of Toshiba’s global strategy to increase production
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capacity of hard disk drives. The Philippine operations are expected to increase monthly production to 1.2 million units during the first quarter of 2005, up from about one million units.

Toshiba is the second-biggest producer of small hard disk drives, in particular the 2.5-inch and smaller storage devices.

According to the company, the market for small-sized hard disk drives has been growing sharply due to the emerging need for non-PC applications, including digital home electronics and car electronics. It is also being fueled by high demand in the portable personal computer market.

**mantoy** · December 28th, 2004 02:34 PM

alin ba talaga kuya?

aalis ba o hindi?

**jim** · December 28th, 2004 03:03 PM

baka naman moving out its notebook PC production kasi sabi rin sa column..... Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar Purisima also said Toshiba is planning to make the Philippines its hub for manufacturing storage devices.

As an initial move, the Japanese electronics firm announced that it would expand its global storage device manufacturing operations in the Philippines by 20 percent.

so yung mga manggagawa sa notebook PC ililipat sa storage production :D