Toshiba is to cease TV development and sales in North America, and will be licensing its TV business in the region to Compal. New products will begin to arrive in March.
Toshiba also has plans to radically change its TV business in all global regions, excluding Japan. The company will replace its own development with a brand licensing model. The target date to complete the move and conclude negotiations is April this year.
The move to a licensing model was taken due to slowing global TV growth and ‘harsh’ price competition, according to the company.
Analyst Comments
We suspected that this would happen, after noting that Toshiba’s CES stand was suspiciously free of TVs this year (Toshiba is Re-Assessing its US TV Plans, Large Display Monitor Vol 22 No 3). It follows the company’s move out of TV assembly in Europe in 2013, when the factory in Wroclaw, Poland was purchased by Compal. (TA)
