Weak TV sales have contributed to a downturn in Toshiba sales in the last quarter, resulting in the Japanese Company reporting a US$138.9 million loss for the three months ending in December.The Company whose third quarter operating profit fell 72% said that profit margin in its memory-chip business dropped to less than 11% from more than 20% in the second quarter, in part because of the yen’s strength.
Toshiba and Samsung Electronics are the world’s leading makers of NAND flash-memory chips, which store data in smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile gadgets.
A major contributor was the global collapse in TV sales with Toshiba’s TV business set to struggle running into 2012.
The company now expects to sell 15 million sets globally this fiscal year, down from a previous target of 18 million.
“The domestic TV market has slumped more than we had expected,” Executive Vice President Makoto Kubo said at a news conference.
Toshiba has focused on Asian emerging markets to make up for the slowdown in Japan, but the outcome hasn’t been strong enough to offset losses in Japan and other regions, Mr. Kubo said.
The Company is set to benefit from the launch of new Android tablets, a new 14″ Ultrabook and new notebooks.
