Portable PCs The LCD business Q: Toshiba and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. have a new joint venture for LCDs that began operation in April. What outlook do you see for the future development of this business? Q: What are your strategies for your portable PC business? A: Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd. (TMDT) com- bines our LCD development, manufacturing, and sales opera- tions with those of Matsushita’s. It’s an excellent match, be- cause it brings together our know-how in large-sized, low-tem- perature polysilicon (LTPS) TFT LCDs and Matsushita’s high-speed, high-resolution LCD technologies for TVs. That combination gives us the potential to be a leader in the world market. Our leader- ship in LTPS TFT LCDs also gives us an edge in development of full color organic light emitting displays (OLEDs), next-genera- tion displays that offer higher resolution and a slimmer display. We are making progress in OLED development and mass pro- duction is now slated to start in 2003. In the interim, TMDT will open a new production facility in Singapore in August 2002 that will produce large-sized LTPS TFT LCDs for portable PCs, moni- tors, and TVs. All-in-all, we are well positioned, with the right products and the right road map to the future. A: This is one of Toshiba’s core businesses and one I want to see further strengthened in all areas, from development to lo- gistics. For instance, in 2001 we established a system for di- rect delivery to the North American market of portable PCs manu- factured at our Philippine facility. However, we know that suc- cess depends on offering great products that win in the market place. To support us in this we established two technology cen- ters at our main PC facility, Ome Operations in Tokyo, the Core Technology Center and the Digital Media Development Center. These integrate our development and engineering capabilities in computing, visual imaging, communications and storage de- vices and will help assure that Toshiba continues the timely launch of distinctive products that integrate innovative technologies. These measures are already bearing fruit. In the January-March quarter of 2002, Toshiba regained the worldwide No. 1 share of the portable PC market for the first time in nine months*. We are also working to enhance the profitability of the por- table PC business by sharpening our cost competitiveness. Toshiba Information Equipment (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. in Hangzhou, Zhejian, China, will contribute to this. We established this com- pany in June 2002, and it will start mass production in April 2003. Toshiba will sharpen its cost competitiveness in global markets and reduce product development lead times while in- dependently developing leading-edge technologies, including fuel cells and Voice over IP technologies, a step ahead of competi- tors. We will also emphasize the integration of these technolo- gies into new products to strengthen product competitiveness as we further expand our portable PC business. *(Source: IDC Survey) 8