IRVINE, CALIF. — One month after
announcing a realignment of its
consumer electronics business unit,
Toshiba said its IT products division
Toshiba America Information Systems
(TAIS) and its CE products unit
Toshiba America Consumer Products
(TACP) will merge into a single operating
company, effective July 1.
Under the latest plan TACP will be
integrated into the digital products division
(DPD), a division of TAIS, and
the combined operation will be located
at the current TAIS headquarters in Irvine,
Calif.
The company said the move was “designed
to take full advantage of the ongoing
digital convergence in the U.S.
market by combining the resources of
each company to provide the industry’s
broadest and strongest range of digital
products.”
The move follows an announcement
last month that the TACP unit had
just realigned its marketing operations,
merging the key TV marketing and digital
audio/video marketing departments
into a central marketing department.
Scott Ramirez, formerly TV marketing
VP, was promoted to marketing
VP for all TACP products in that
change.
Toshiba would not disclose which
TACP executives would be making the
move west to join TAIS, or what their
new positions would be in the combined
organization.
In Irvine, TAIS markets and sells a
range of information technology products,
including laptop computers, storage
devices, telephone systems and industrial
camera products in the U.S.
The company also recently added its
first flash-based digital camcorder.
TAIS will continue to be led by Mark
Simons, who is the current president. The new digital products division
will report to Jeff Barney, general
manager, according to a
TAIS spokesperson.
Headquartered in Wayne, N.J.,
TACP has marketed and sold
home entertainment products,
including high-definition flatpanel
TVs, Blu-ray Disc players,
TV/DVD combination products
and portable DVD players.
Toshiba said the unification
will leverage the convergence
between PC and TV technologies
and will generate synergies
in sales, service, marketing and
communication activities. The company
expects the action to “strengthening
Toshiba’s overall brand image and increasing
brand awareness.”
Toshiba said it has closely monitored
the evolution in the U.S. market of the
convergence between information technology
and visual products.
“By combining the U.S. operations
of two of Toshiba’s pivotal businesses,
Toshiba will further its market leadership
and will be better positioned
to offer new products and services
to customers,” the company said in a
statement announcing the move.
In the new arrangement, TAIS
will market and sell a full
line of LED and LCD TVs,
TV/DVD combination units,
Blu-ray Disc players, portable
DVD players, and DVD
player and recorder products,
as well as laptop computers,
hard drives, industrial camera
products, telecommunication
systems and imaging systems.
“This integration of our PC
and TV business makes us the
strongest player in the combined
category in the U.S. and allows
us to be a leader in providing synergies
between the products and in offering
innovative solutions for the connected
home,” stated Simons. “We will also
achieve efficiencies of operation that further
enhance our competitiveness.”
The Irvine operation is also home to
other Toshiba America subsidiaries, including
Toshiba America Business Solutions
(TABS), Toshiba America Electronic
Components (TAEC) and Toshiba
America Medical Systems (TAMS).
