Irvine, Calif. –
announced Thursday that its IT
products unit 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 plan TACP will be integrated into the digital products
division (DPD), a division of TAIS. The new 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.”
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.
Headquartered
in Wayne, N.J.,
TACP has marketed and sold home entertainment products, including
high-definition flat-panel 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 result in a “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,
T/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.
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.
“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 Mark Simons, TAIS president. “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).
Additionally, the location offers easier access to overseas
manufacturing facilities, as well as to Toshiba Corporation which is
headquartered in Tokyo.
As this was posted, the company did not disclose which of TACP’s
executives would be making the move west, or if the change will result in the
loss of any current positions.
