Toshiba Falls to Three-Year Low on Chip Production Cut
Toshiba Corp. (6502) fell to its lowest in more than three years in Tokyo trading after saying it will reduce production of NAND flash memory by 30 percent as weakened demand for data storage devices led to a glut.
Toshiba, the world’s biggest maker of flash memory after Samsung Electronics Co., declined 5.4 percent to 261 yen, the lowest since March 2009, at the close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.2 percent.
The reduction will take effect at Toshiba’s Yokkaichi factory in Japan today, the Tokyo-based maker of chips, consumer electronics, aerospace components, nuclear reactors and home appliances, said in a statement. It has no plan to change its earnings forecasts because of the move, Toshiba said.
The output cut is Toshiba’s first since 2009, as demand for storage cards used in mobile devices including cameras and USB memory slumped amid economic weakness in Europe. Global personal-computer shipments dropped 0.1 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, market researcher Gartner Inc. said July 11.
“This move will help to reduce inventory in the market and improve the overall balance between supply and demand,” Toshiba said in the release. The market for flash memory may improve this quarter on rising demand for PCs and smartphones, the chipmaker said.
The reduction doesn’t affect production shared with SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) at the Yokkaichi plant, Toshiba spokesman Atsushi Ido said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Naoko Fujimura in Tokyo at nfujimura@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net
Toshiba Falls to Three-Year Low on Chip Output Cut
Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
The output cut is Toshiba’s first since 2009, as demand for storage cards used in mobile devices including cameras and USB memory slumped amid economic weakness in Europe.
The output cut is Toshiba’s first since 2009, as demand for storage cards used in mobile devices including cameras and USB memory slumped amid economic weakness in Europe. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, chairwoman of Toshiba Thailand, talks about the impact of last year's Thai floods on the company's operations, demand in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region, and Europe's sovereign debt crisis. She spoke yesterday at the World Economic Forum on East Asia conference in Bangkok with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin. (Source: Bloomberg)
Toshiba Falls to Three-Year Low on Chip Output Cut
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
A Toshiba Corp. 24 nanometer NAND flash wafer on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
A Toshiba Corp. 24 nanometer NAND flash wafer on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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