Toshiba Stays Focused on Advanced Processes During Tough Times

"We will continue to maintain our focus in business management in this tough business climate," said Masashi Muromachi, senior executive vice president of Toshiba Corp, in his keynote speech delivered Dec 3, 2008, at Semicon Japan 2008. He reiterated the strategy of focusing on advanced process technology, saying, "There will be no future for Toshiba if we lose now."

"We will further accelerate structural reforms to regain good business performance in the second half of fiscal 2009 at the latest," Muromachi said.

As the first step, Toshiba will downsize its plants for 5- to 6-inch products. The company has many post-process plants, especially for discrete products, in Japan so it will slash these factories too.

In regard to the memory business, Toshiba will continue to focus on advanced process technology. It plans to increase the ratio of the 43nm flash memory to 90% or more of total production by March 2009 from the current ratio of 50 to 60%.

Technologies for the 30nm-range are close to completion. And sample shipments and mass production are slated for the first quarter (January to March) and the second quarter of 2009, respectively. The company said it also made considerable progress in developing technologies for the 20nm-range.

As for the system LSI business, Toshiba has already started manufacturing 40nm products, and the company is expecting to receive an increased number of inquiries from users who highly evaluate its technologies. The company plans to accelerate selection and concentration in this business and review the microcomputer and LCD driver sectors, in which Toshiba is not very competitive.

Source: Tech-on