On June 24 Norio Sasaki, 60 years old, was appointed president and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. Toshiba lost $3.61 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31. In an attempt to shore up its balance sheet the company issued $5 billion in additional debt and equity.
Mr. Sasaki immediately set a goal of boosting the shareholder equity ratio from 19% to 30%. As noted by Daisuke Wakabayashi and Yuzo Yamaguchi in the WSJ, In order to meet the target, Toshiba not only needs to return to profitability, but might also have to exit unprofitable or weak businesses, as well as overhaul its capital-intensive chip operations. In the past, the company has been reluctant to take such steps.
In discussing business units, the article focused on semi conductors and nuclear power plants. Mr. Sasaki started in Toshiba’s nuclear power plant business and expects “significant growth” in revenues over the next two years. There was no mention of the office equipment business in the article.
Showing posts with label Toshiba copiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toshiba copiers. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Toshiba Puts Rumors to Rest
In a memo to “All Toshiba Copier Dealers,” Mark Mathews, TABS President and COO, put to rest the rumor that has been gaining momentum over the last three weeks: That Canon was buying TBS, TABS direct organization.
Quoting Mark’s memo, “As valued Toshiba dealer partners, I felt it was important to address any TABS-related rumors directly and immediately. Toshiba Corp. is not currently, nor has it previously been in discussions with any manufacturer regarding the potential purchase of its MFP business, TABS or Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS), nor does it have any future plans in this area. Please be assured, and feel confident in assuring your customers, prospects and employees, on these points. Any related rumors to the contrary are completely unfounded and without merit.”
Strategy Development did not participate in permeating this rumor. When first contacted by industry players asking us if there was any validity we did what research we could within our network and determined that the rumor probably did not have validity. That was our message to whoever asked over the last few weeks.
I provide that retrospect because of this next statement. We do believe that consolidation will occur in the hardware manufacturing space. Unit sales continue to decline and it appears as if that decline will continue; I will talk about this in my next post. So in a less public, because of foreign stock listings and manufacturing plants, and less dramatic fashion the copier industry seems to be mirroring the auto industry: Same level of manufacturing with lower unit sales.
We are not a research company so we offer no opinion on how quickly that consolidation will occur or who might merge with or buy whom. We simply use the information we get to help our clients prepare for a prosperous future in the space. It will be those that don’t plan that will be in trouble; those that do will still thrive.
Quoting Mark’s memo, “As valued Toshiba dealer partners, I felt it was important to address any TABS-related rumors directly and immediately. Toshiba Corp. is not currently, nor has it previously been in discussions with any manufacturer regarding the potential purchase of its MFP business, TABS or Toshiba Business Solutions (TBS), nor does it have any future plans in this area. Please be assured, and feel confident in assuring your customers, prospects and employees, on these points. Any related rumors to the contrary are completely unfounded and without merit.”
Strategy Development did not participate in permeating this rumor. When first contacted by industry players asking us if there was any validity we did what research we could within our network and determined that the rumor probably did not have validity. That was our message to whoever asked over the last few weeks.
I provide that retrospect because of this next statement. We do believe that consolidation will occur in the hardware manufacturing space. Unit sales continue to decline and it appears as if that decline will continue; I will talk about this in my next post. So in a less public, because of foreign stock listings and manufacturing plants, and less dramatic fashion the copier industry seems to be mirroring the auto industry: Same level of manufacturing with lower unit sales.
We are not a research company so we offer no opinion on how quickly that consolidation will occur or who might merge with or buy whom. We simply use the information we get to help our clients prepare for a prosperous future in the space. It will be those that don’t plan that will be in trouble; those that do will still thrive.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Toshiba to raise prices April 1, 2009
Citing the dramatic drop in the yen relative to the dollar, from 107 to 89, Toshiba announced a price increase on their copiers effective April 1.
Historically, manufacturers have hedged currency for six month periods. In August of 2008, six months back, the Yen was at approximately 110/ dollar. For the six months leading into August the Yen averaged 105 / dollar. Today, the exchange rate is 90 / dollar.
Although this announcement was from Toshiba, if the Yen remains at current exchange rate levels you can expect all Japanese manufacturers to raise prices. The price increase is a double edged sword in that it has the potential to reduce a dealerships gross margin if the primary sales strategy is on matching the current monthly payment of the end user. The price increase also has the potential to increase revenue and profit (same profit ratio on a higher average unit selling price results in more profit dollars) if the price increase can be passed onto the end user. There are a lot of strategies and tactics that will enable you to raise prices, so make certain you do some planning as you get these price increase notices.
Historically, manufacturers have hedged currency for six month periods. In August of 2008, six months back, the Yen was at approximately 110/ dollar. For the six months leading into August the Yen averaged 105 / dollar. Today, the exchange rate is 90 / dollar.
Although this announcement was from Toshiba, if the Yen remains at current exchange rate levels you can expect all Japanese manufacturers to raise prices. The price increase is a double edged sword in that it has the potential to reduce a dealerships gross margin if the primary sales strategy is on matching the current monthly payment of the end user. The price increase also has the potential to increase revenue and profit (same profit ratio on a higher average unit selling price results in more profit dollars) if the price increase can be passed onto the end user. There are a lot of strategies and tactics that will enable you to raise prices, so make certain you do some planning as you get these price increase notices.
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