HOME APPLIANCES COMPANY President TAKESHI NAGASAKA ronment, Japan’s aging population and declining birth- rate, and continue to develop products that can sup- port new lifestyles. We also expect this approach to help us to revamp our businesses and ensure stable profits. Although demand for refrigerators fell 18% year-on-year, sales of the “Hikari Plasma Senzo” se- ries were favorable. Launched in September 2001, one sales point of these refrigerators is a hundred- fold increase in the ability to decompose ethylene, which damages fresh vegetables. Sales were also healthy for the “Non-Freon Hikari Plasma Senzo” se- ries, the first environmentally friendly refrigerators offered by any Japanese manufacturer. Among washing machines, our “Kaisoku Ginga 21,” a fully automatic drum-type washing machine and dryer, enjoyed market success, thanks in part to a high rotational speed during spin-drying that gets clothes dry faster. Another hit was “Aqua Bihaku,” which is equipped with an aquatic controller that in- However, even in this tough environment there were positive signs. Efforts to differentiate Toshiba products from conventional home appliances proved successful, as our series of “Lifestyle Creation” prod- ucts won increased market shares in washing ma- chines, vacuum cleaners and microwave ovens. In this year and beyond, we will continue to address such social issues as energy conservation, the envi- Domestic demand for home appliances suffered a sharp drop, one anticipated in the aftermath of a sales spike in fiscal 2000, prior to the April 2001 enforcement of the Home Appliance Recycling Law. Consequently, consolidated sales in the Home Appli- ances segment decreased 4% against the previous fiscal year, to ¥680.7 billion (US$5,118 million), while operating income was down 38% to ¥11.4 billion (US$85 million). The Home Appliances Company aims at being a “high-profit company with sustainable growth,” a core business that uses the Toshiba brand to appeal to consumers. Our main product areas cover refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, and other household appliances. Based on pioneering technical capabilities—which sup- ported us in developing chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-free refrigerators and DD inverter motors—we will cre- ate products that satisfy customers and so main- tain our position as a leader in market share in our domestic market. Overseas, we will seek to extend our business operations, particularly into China, other parts of Asia, and the Middle East. To ensure long-term profitability, we will continue efforts to introduce innovative products ahead of our competitors in the promising area of net- worked home appliances, dishwashers, induction heating (IH) cookers and 200-volt home appliances. HOME APPLIANCES COMPANY Home Appliances “Non-Freon Hikari Plasma Senzoko” refrigerators are the industry’s first to be free of CFC substitutes that are now seen as imposing burdens on the environment. With 200V of power, the fully automatic “Kaisoku Ginga 21” assures faster washing and drying cycles. DD inverter mo- tors damp down noise and vi- bration. '00 '01 '02 11 18 5$^{OPERATING INCOME}$ 708 681 660 '00 '01 '02 (Billions of yen) (Billions of yen) NET SALES 26