Toshiba Corporation (株式会社東芝) is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors, hard disk drives, printers, batteries, lighting, as well as IT solutions such as quantum cryptography.[3][4][5] It was formerly also one of the biggest manufacturers of personal computers, consumer electronics, home appliances, and medical equipment.
The Toshiba name is derived from its former name, Tokyo Shibaura Denki K.K. which in turn was a 1939 merger between Shibaura Seisaku-sho (founded in 1875) and Tokyo Denki (founded in 1890). The company name was officially changed to Toshiba Corporation in 1978. A technology company with a long history and sprawling businesses, Toshiba is a household name in Japan and has long been viewed as a symbol of the country's technological prowess post-World War II.[6] As a semiconductor company and the inventor of flash memory, Toshiba had been one of the top 10 in the chip industry until its flash memory unit was spun off as Kioxia in the late 2010s.[7][8] The company was also relevant in consumer personal computers, releasing the first mass-market laptop in 1985 and later ranking as a major vendor of laptops; it exited the PC business in 2020 having divested it into Dynabook Inc.[9]
Toshiba faced trouble during the 2010s amid a much-publicised accounting scandal that affected its reputation, and the bankruptcy of its subsidiary nuclear energy company Westinghouse in 2017. This forced the conglomerate to shed a number of underperforming businesses, essentially eliminating the company's century-long presence in consumer markets.[10][11] After a rejection to split the company,[12] Toshiba was purchased by a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) and Tolba in 2023; Toshiba turned private as a result and was delisted after 74 years from the Tokyo Stock Exchange,[13] where it was formerly a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX 100 indices.
History
Tanaka Seisakusho
Tanaka Seisakusho (田中製作所) was the first company established by Tanaka Hisashige (1799–1881), one of the most original and productive inventor-engineers during the Tokugawa / Edo period. Established on 11 July 1875,[14][15] it was the first Japanese company to manufacture telegraph equipment. It also manufactured switches, and miscellaneous electrical and communications equipment.
The company was inherited by Tanaka's adopted son, and later became half of the present Toshiba company. Several people who worked at Tanaka Seisakusho or who received Tanaka's guidance at a Kubusho (Ministry of Industries) factory later became pioneers themselves. These included Miyoshi Shōichi who helped Fujioka Ichisuke make the first power generator in Japan and to establish a company, Hakunetsusha to make bulbs; Oki Kibatarō, the founder of the present Oki Denki (Oki Electric Industry
Operations
As of 2012, Toshiba had 39 R&D facilities worldwide, which employed around 4,180 people, and was organized into four main business groupings: the Digital Products Group, the Electronic Devices Group, the Home Appliances Group and the Social Infrastructure Group.[116] In the year ended 31 March 2012, Toshiba had total revenues of ¥6,100.3 billion, of which 25.2 percent was generated by the Digital Products Group, 24.5 percent by the Electronic Devices Group, 8.7 percent by the Home Appliances Group, 36.6 percent by the Social Infrastructure Group and 5 percent by other activities. In the same year, 45 percent of Toshiba's sales were generated in Japan and 55 percent in the rest of the world.[116]
Toshiba invested a total of ¥319.9 billion in R&D in the year ended 31 March 2012, equivalent to 5.2 percent of sales.[116] Toshiba registered a total of 2,483 patents in the United States in 2011, the fifth-largest number of any company (after IBM, Samsung Electronics, Canon and Panasonic
Products, services, and standards
Toshiba has had a range of products and services, including air conditioners,[118] consumer electronics (including televisions and DVD and Blu-ray players),[119] control systems (including air-traffic control systems, railway systems, security systems and traffic control systems),[120] electronic point of sale equipment,[121] elevators and escalators,[122] home appliances (including refrigerators and washing machines),[118] IT services,[123]
Environmental record
Toshiba has been judged as making "low" efforts to lessen its impact on the environment. In November 2012, it came second from the bottom in Greenpeace's 18th edition of the Guide to Greener Electronics that ranks electronics companies according to their policies on products, energy, and sustainable operations.[141] Toshiba received 2.3 of a possible 10 points, with the top company (WIPRO) receiving 7.1 points. "Zero" scores were received in the categories "Clean energy policy advocacy", "Use of recycled plastics in products" and "Policy and practice on sustainable sourcing of fibres for paper". In 2010, Toshiba reported that all of its new LCD TVs comply with the Energy Star standards and 34 models exceed the requirements by 30% or more.[142]
Toshiba partnered with China's Tsinghua University in 2008 in order to form a research facility to focus on energy conservation and the environment.[143] The new Toshiba Energy and Environment Research Center is located in Beijing where forty students from the university will work to research electric power equipment and new technologies that will help stop the global warming process.[143]
See also
External links
References
- Consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 (under US GAAP) Toshiba Corporation, retrieved 28 May 2022^
- 基本データ | 会社概要 | 東芝^
- TOSHIBA GROUP MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION CHART Toshiba Corp., 1 April 2020^