Toshiba aims for lead in appliances market

Toshiro Ishiwatari, president of Japan’s Toshiba Lifestyle Products and Service Corporation (TLSC) and Masaaki Kimura, president of Toshiba Thailand and the executive committee, yesterday held a press briefing on “Toshiba Future and the Next Step towards 2018”.
The event presented the company’s policies and marketing campaign, as well as showcasing collaboration between Japan, China, and Thailand in order to meet customer needs quickly and effectively. The company reiterated its goal of “bringing good things to the life of Thai people”. 
Toshiro Ishiwatari, president of TLSC, said that Toshiba would never stop creating good products, under the design and manufacturing standards in Japan, in accordance to customers’ needs by focusing on the quality of life and consumers’ lifestyles. 
With the synergy of TLSC and Midea Group formed last year, we aim to increase our focus on creating products that meet the needs of the global market. 
More than 50 new products are under development while more than 10 have been completed with the products already on sales in foreign markets . “Apart from new innovations for the global market, we have also set up an IHQ (International Headquarter) in Thailand,” the company said.
 “The IHQ is the centre of administration and management in each region, overseeing manufacturing, marketing, and sales so that products can be produced appropriately and in accordance with the needs in each region. It is also charged with making product costs more competitive, increase production speed in line with market growth.”
In addition, Ishiwatari said that TLSC will maintain its original intention that Toshiba will continue to grow and move forward with the Thai people.
 “We place great importance on developing good products with Japanese standards, and to take into accounts the lifestyle and needs of customers in order to improve the quality of lives of the Thai people , as stated in the company’s slogan,” the executive said.
Kimura said the Thai market is recovering with many positive factors for the economy, such as the growth in tourism, exports, domestic consumption, and the increase in GDP, as well as the “Shopping for the Nation” campaign that encourages spending. 
As for the electric home-appliance market this year, demand has slightly decreased due to the cooler weather with the sales of air conditioners dropping by almost 10 per cent. 
However, other appliances such as refrigerator, washing machine, and kitchen appliances continued their growth. The TV market is shrinking slightly in volume but has been rising in quality as consumers prefer to buy larger sets with UHD4K and Smart TV function. 
The company expects the local and world economies to mprove next year. It plans to launch a range of new products including one-door refrigerators in new colours , smaller two-door refrigerators, new air conditioner inverters, TVs, rice cookers, and microwave ovens, among others.