New Delhi: In one of the biggest Japan Inc restructuring in a long time, Japanese tech giant Toshiba is set to restructure into three independent units that will focus on infrastructure, devices and memory chips. Intended at improving shareholder value as well as encouraging activist shareholders to exit, this move may make corporate icon Toshiba Japan's first publicly-traded titan to break itself up into three fully independent units, the media has reported.
According to a report in Asia Times, the move is aimed at competing on the global stage, is exactly the type of disruption Japan needs. The move will likely send shockwaves through the world’s third-largest economy, the report added.
A report in Nikkei Business Daily mentioned the three units would focus on infrastructure, devices and semiconductor memory and are expected to be listed as early as 2023.
"We are drafting a mid-term business plan to enhance our corporate value, and dividing our businesses is one of the options, but there is nothing officially decided at this point," Tatsuro Oishi, a Toshiba spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency AFP. "We will swiftly announce if we decide anything that should be disclosed."
This development comes months after Toshiba sold its remaining 19.9 per cent stake in its Dynabook laptop brand to Sharp, thus, officially exiting the laptop business. Earlier in August, the Japanese tech behemoth, once well-known for its satellite range of laptops meant for heavy use, quietly pulled the plug on its laptop business. Toshiba had entered the market for laptops in 1985.
Toshiba had introduced its ‘Satellite' range of laptops to take on IBM's ‘ThinkPad' series. The company was outsourcing its laptop production until 2015, though it started manufacturing newer models at its facility in China. In the 1990s and early 2000s the company was among the top PC manufacturers, but the growth of Lenovo, Dell and HP made it tougher for it to continue its success in the market.