Two radical new ‘touchscreen slates’ one aimed at consumers and the other at business users, is being considered by Toshiba who are also set to launch a radical new notebook in June 2010 to celebrate 25 years of the notebook.
According to Rob Wilkinson, the General Manger of Toshiba’s Information Systems Division, in Australia the new notebook will be a “radical step forward” in notebook design.
He refuses to give out any other information other than it will be launched in June 2010 to celebrate 25 years of the notebook which was invented by Toshiba in 1985.
Wilkinson has also said that Toshiba is considering not one, but two touchscreen slates to take on the new Apple iPad. “What do you want a slate that’s for business use or a slate that’s designed for entertainment or consumer use. We believe that there is room for two slates”.
“We will launch in June 2010 a radical new notebook to celebrate 25 years of the notebook. There is nothing like this in the market. It is a radical new look”. he said.
In the Australian market Toshiba last year grew their notebook sales from 27% to 29% in the fast growing retail marketplace said Wilkinson. (Based on GFK notebook sales data for 2009).
“This growth was achieved despite the entry of several new brands into the Australian market. We believe that we can hold onto this share and grow even further. We saw some brands expand their strategy inside the retail market. Overall only two brands grew their marketshare in 2009 and one of those brands was Apple.” he said.
Among the new brands to enter the Australian market in 2009 was Samsung.
Wilkinson who took over the role of General Manager of Toshiba’s AV and Information Systems Division from Mark Whittard who was promoted to Managing Director of Toshiba Australia said that Toshiba Australia was in an excellent position to respond to market needs in Australia.
“The biggest thing to have happened locally is that we have a local management team that can respond quickly. As a local organisation we are now empowered to run the business quicker and cleaner. We can make local decisions and act on them immediately. February 2010 was a record month for Toshiba. We had biggest February ever it was 20% bigger than our best ever month”.
“A lot this local management restructure is set to show through this year as we grow our notebook AV and TV business in Australia. We are set to invest significantly in local marketing with a new advertising agency who has already identified some excellent opportunities for us”. Said Wilkinson.
