14 DAY TRIAL // The China mobile device market is not of interest to Toshiba anymore, the company announcing its retreat from the competition and that it has already sold 33% of the partnership's value with the Chinese cell phone operators.
The company refused to make any comments related to the financial details of this transaction.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, which doesn't quote a specific source, Toshiba is supposed to have sold the shares from the partnership with a Chinese cell phone operator. The agreement between the two parties was signed in 2000 and according to it, Toshiba had to supply high-end cell phones to the Nanjing Postel Telecommunications operator.
The Japanese company proposed several expensive models, among which a video email phone with a price of 722 USD. Unfortunately, the adoption pace of this type of phones was below Toshiba's expectations and the company announced that it gives up the fight on the Chinese market and it will focus on the European market where the perspectives are more optimistic. Because the cheap Toshiba phones didn't set any popularity records either, despite the promoting campaigns, the company decided to completely retreat from the market.
The failure of Toshiba's Chinese division won't cause extensive losses to the corporation due to the low level of involvement on this market.
Yukihiko Shimada, a Daiwa Institute of Research analyst, carried out a thorough study regarding the implications of this important decision for the Chinese market and for the Japanese company. "Considering the evolution on the Chinese market, Toshiba's decision was the right one."