Toshiba To Focus On Memory Chips, Phase Out Hard Disk Manufacturing
Facing the competition from Samsung, Toshiba plans to
ramp up production of next-generation memory chips while paring back its hard drive business and selling other chipmaking operations.
The Japanese company plans by March to begin mass production of 3-D NAND flash memory in new production lines in Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture. The upgraded facilities will be ready by June.
The Japanese company will invest 400 billion yen to 500 billion yen ($3.37 billion to $4.21 billion in order to expand the production output of the new plant, which will be brought online by fiscal 2018. SanDisk, Toshiba's partner at the Yokkaichi facilities, is expected to bear half the cost of the upgrade.
Regarding its hard drive business, prospects are not so bright, mainly due to the slow PC market. Toshiba is considering layoffs at a hard drive factory in the Philippines and plans to gradually scale down the division. The company is expected to switch over to production of solid-state drives, which use flash memory.
Selling its hard drive business is a possibility for Toshiba, President Masashi Muromachi told reporters on Dec. 21, suggesting that restructuring would be on the way soon.
Toshiba has a nearly 20% share of the global hard drive market, likely logging around 400 billion yen in annual sales. The company is competing with Western Digital and Seagate Technology, but sustained large-scale investments are required in order to remain competitive.
The Japanese company will invest 400 billion yen to 500 billion yen ($3.37 billion to $4.21 billion in order to expand the production output of the new plant, which will be brought online by fiscal 2018. SanDisk, Toshiba's partner at the Yokkaichi facilities, is expected to bear half the cost of the upgrade.
Regarding its hard drive business, prospects are not so bright, mainly due to the slow PC market. Toshiba is considering layoffs at a hard drive factory in the Philippines and plans to gradually scale down the division. The company is expected to switch over to production of solid-state drives, which use flash memory.
Selling its hard drive business is a possibility for Toshiba, President Masashi Muromachi told reporters on Dec. 21, suggesting that restructuring would be on the way soon.
Toshiba has a nearly 20% share of the global hard drive market, likely logging around 400 billion yen in annual sales. The company is competing with Western Digital and Seagate Technology, but sustained large-scale investments are required in order to remain competitive.
