Toshiba to cut 6,800 jobs

Toshiba is the world’s second-largest maker of “flash” memory chips, behind Samsung, but its sales declined slightly last year, according to research firm IHS.

I tried to buy the Samsung Evo 950 Pro, which is rated currently the world's most advanced SSD chip with 2.5 gig per second in bus transfer speed. But no chance in Japan. I asked the clerk if he can show me the Samsung SSD, and he tried hard to steer me to the far less advanced Toshiba branded SSD. Disgusted, I just walked out.

Toshiba is corrupt. I've know this for many years. I am sorry for innocent workers who are losing their jobs.

No surprise. Heading for the Chinese OEM trough

This highlights the inherent problem with Japan Inc. Year after year, companies will mass-hire armies of new graduates - often in their hundreds. What you get is a young workforce with zero credentials (most often working in positions that are totally unrelated to their university majors), later resulting in a 'jack of all trades, master of none' situation.

So, rather than run a lean operation with highly skilled individuals, you get thousands of people in a single office 'monotasking'. You could easily get by with 1/3 of the numbers, yet time & time again the old boys' club insists that people have jobs 'for the sake of having jobs'. In other words, the companies are run so inefficiently that their only option is to eventually lay off the thousands they originally employed, defeating the purpose entirely.

I often wonder if company's are run like this here for the sake of heritage - ie. 'we're big, so we'll stay on the same course to maintain this image'. It isn't sustainable, and year after year more companies here are suffering the same fate. Zero innovation, inert to change - so we'll run a bloated workforce with the only option of culling workers. Incompetence at its very worst.

Despite its well-known brand, Toshiba has struggled to differentiate its products in consumer electronics. Its television business faces stiff competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers and high-end Korean brands,

I remember when you'd replace Toshiba with [American brand] and low-cost Chine manufactures with Japanese manufactures, and then later high end Korean with high-end Japanese.

Toshiba has really gone down over the last 15 years.

Before I was a brand loyal consumer of Toshiba products, I loved their simplicity and reliability

However they started to get the Sony disease, where products broke down after a couple of years, and now I never buy Toshiba.

They got lazy, like most of Japan Inc.

But no chance in Japan. I asked the clerk if he can show me the Samsung SSD, and he tried hard to steer me to the far less advanced Toshiba branded SSD. Disgusted, I just walked out.

Here's a tip, go somewhere where they sell what you are looking for.

I like Sharp. But...

Here's a tip, go somewhere where they sell what you are looking for.

Few Samsung products are sold in Japan, but their SSD drives are sold in most Japanese computer supply stores. But often Samsung products are put on the second or third shelf, where they are not easily found. Japanese retailers have relationships with Japanese manufacturers, and they will sell Japanese brands over imports whenever it is possible.

As for Samsung televisions or cameras, they simply aren't sold in Japan. Japanese makers don't want to compete with them. That would require them to create efficient business structures, to change to performance-based promotion systems, cut redundant jobs in their vast corporate bureaucracies, and hire young people with talent and relevant degrees. It might also require getting rid of the geriatric old fossils who manage their companies in ways which benefit geriatric old fossils, rather than the younger people who create and sell the products, or the consumers which buy these products.

My last laptop was a Toshiba Qosmio, great screen but the GPU took out the mobo and that killed a $3600CAD beauty. That hurt but in the end, 7 months after the warranty ended, I put the boots to Toshiba and they replaced the main board and it was working again at no cost to me other than a few months of battling it out on the phone. Last to TV/monitors have been Toshiba and (knocking on wood) all is well. I remember my first Toshiba product was a compact cassette 'walkman' clone and it did as well as my Sony Sport.

Sadly today, people just want lower prices and don't bother to equate that to lower quality and overall short lifespan. Now companies figure they can make garbage and they'll blend right in with the rest of the garbage. Warranty duration mean nothing if companies don't honour them so that's how you pick your products after features. Buyer beware.

As for Samsung televisions or cameras, they simply aren't sold in Japan.

well in my 20 years here I have never heard of such a thing. Walk into Bic camera and there's Samsung TV's and other non-Japanese brands all over. Walk into Docomo and there are Samsung phones and iphones everywhere.

Sadly the real difficulty these days is to find a product Made In Japan since I prefer quality over price. When I ask for made in Japan there is usually very little to show me. As for Samsung cameras well you got me there, not that I would ever buy a Samsung product of any kind especially a camera when I can get a Nikon or a Canon.

Will Toshiba continue to sponsor Sazaesan?

Walk into Bic camera and there's Samsung TV's and other non-Japanese brands all over. Walk into Docomo and there are Samsung phones and iphones everywhere.

Moon1, I don't know what part of country you're living in, but Samsung TV's were completely pulled out of Japan like five years ago. I think Samsung's highest market share in Japan was at 0.1% at one point before they pulling out. Samsung also had to take out their Samsung logos from the phones, and the sales have improved.

I'm not really surprised why Japan's electronics market is struggling. It's consumers don't like any kind of competition from non-Japanese brands, so the electronic goods producers don't care to improve, and don't know what's happening outside of Japan, with both consumers and manufacturers thinking that they're still the best - sort of like the frog in the well syndrome.

Simply put Honda = Hyundai Toshiba = LC

It's consumers don't like any kind of competition from non-Japanese brands,

Utter rubbish