Presentations & Events

FY2009

- ended March, 2010

Strategies for Transforming Toshiba Group

- August 5, 2009

Q & A Session

Q1. I want to ask you about the Nuclear energy business. According to the presentation materials, by around 2013 you expect to be involved in 10 or more construction projects at the same time. Isn't there any problem in executing so many projects at the same time?
In the construction of a power plant, in the time from the start of work to commissioning, the engineers involved in each work process are different. The engineers working in the same area aren’t required to work on all 10 projects at the same time. We are drawing up total project plans, including allocation of engineers for each work process, based on the premise of receiving orders for 39 plants. It should also be remembered that the timing of construction is different. So, we recognize that we can more than meet all requirements.
Q2. Looking at the future of the NAND flash memory market, it seems that mobile phones and smart phones will be an important driving force. Will you produce NAND flash memory in response to fluctuations in demand? Or is it more probable that you will continue with production at full operation.
There are concerns about over-supply and price declines if we continue to produce NAND flash memory by operating at full capacity, without sufficient consideration to fluctuations in demand. For that reason, we have set up a marketing section in the Semiconductor Company dedicated to analyzing demand. Acting on the considered estimates of that section, we will respond flexibly to market conditions.
Q3. You stated that you intend to capture demand in newly emerging countries. What strategy will you deploy to achieve this? For example, price competition is severe in products such as TVs and PCs.
In the aftermath of last year's financial shock, the advanced countries have seen negative economic growth. On the other hand, the emerging countries, including China and India, anticipate positive growth. In respect of digital consumer products, the trend is to globalization and commoditization, and so we have to launch products in full consideration of the trend of demand in the markets of each country and region. In the advanced countries, progress in broadcasting and communications infrastructure is anticipated, and we will make use of our technology to deliver differentiated products. In the growing emerging countries, we will develop products focusing on the emerging countries and will deliver commodity products in the price range acceptable to the markets.
Q4. I would like to ask you about cuts in fixed costs. Compared to FY2008, you plan to cut fixed costs by 300 billion yen in FY2009, but what about FY2010 and after?
Our original target was to reduce fixed costs by 300 billion yen in FY2009 against FY2008, but we have a plan to reach a stretch target beyond 330 billion yen. In doing this, we are following-up on progress every month. In FY2010 and beyond, we have a business plan under which we want to attain sustained growth with steadily higher profit, and we will pay attention to our cost structure, especially fixed costs. We aim to maintain an appropriate level of fixed costs, and to make sure that fixed costs don’t rise excessively in relation to sales.

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