Toshiba Will Begin Manufacturing Products In India By Year End

Toshiba, a Japanese electronics company, has said that it is going to start manufacturing its products in India by the end of 2011. It is also integrating the business operations of consumer products, including television and home appliances, with its personal computer divisions in India.

These steps will further fortify the company's business in India and also help it in decreasing costs of products and make them more price competitive. The company currently imports all its products from countries like Indonesia and Japan.

"We will start local manufacturing of our products starting with television by the end of this year. Our aim is to make our products more affordable and tap the growing Indian market," said Masayuki Ito, Vice-President of Toshiba Corporation's Digital Products and Services Company, according to a PTI report.

"Unifying both the businesses will save our logistics cost and help in building the brand image in the country. Besides, it will leverage the distribution channels of both the businesses and enhance its position," added Wu Tenggua, Director (digital products, home appliances and services division) for Toshiba India.

The company had recently established a new Research and Development (R&D) Centre to design and develop digital products for the Indian market and could further extend the local production to home appliances if there is adequate demand for them.

The company plans to hit the 3 lakh mark in terms of TV sold in India by the end of 2011 and plans to increase the number of service centres and point of sales from 3,500 to 6,000 in the country. In India, Toshiba already offers TV's and PCs among others appliances and is planning to launch a tablet later this year.