Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it plans to more than triple annual revenue generated by its audiovisual business to 1.5 trillion yen in fiscal 2010, through the introduction of next-generation flat-screen TVs and DVD players.
Toshiba, which hopes to release its SED TV and HD DVD sometime next year, said these new products will help the company compete against its rivals, including Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Sony Corp.
Revenue generated by the firm's audiovisual business is projected at 490 billion yen for the current fiscal year to March, accounting for some 8 percent of the group total. The company declined to disclose its group forecast for fiscal 2010.
In particular, Toshiba hopes to boost its TV market standing, aiming to raise its worldwide share to 15 percent in fiscal 2010 from around 6 percent at present.
It has staked its TV future on SED, or surface-conduction electron-emitting display, a flat screen jointly developed with Canon Inc. The company plans to supply SED TVs to the 60-inch-plus TV market.
Toshiba President Tadashi Okamura told reporters that the firm will focus on its TV business in light of its growing importance in the consumer electronics segment.
"We admit with regret that we have not made special efforts to promote our TV business up to now," he said.
The firm added that it and its partners have made steady progress in developing the HD DVD offering, which is expected to hit the market next year.
The HD DVD, promoted by Toshiba and NEC Corp., is vying for the de facto standard for the next-generation DVD, competing with Blu-ray, pushed by Sony, Matsushita and others.