Toshiba notebook arm to handle external storage sales

Toshiba’s notebook arm is taking over the management of sales channels for external hard drive products from its Storage Devices division as part of restructuring measures that the vendor claims will reduce the amount of duplication faced by retail partners.

As of July 1st, Toshiba Computer Systems will oversee the external HDD range presently handled by its Storage Devices unit, giving the company a single line of products designed to eliminate confusion in the market.

The vendor believes the move will strengthen its reach in the market place and allow partners to exploit the cross-selling opportunities that should come from greater alignment with its notebooks and accessories.

Toshiba Computer Systems has teams located in different regions, such as the Middle East, which are responsible for local market development, whereas Storage Devices is centralised in Germany and depends largely on an EMEA-wide distribution network.

With external storage continuing to be one of the growth spots of the consumer market,
Philip Walsh, director of sales EMEA at Toshiba’s Storage Devices Division, believes the new arrangement will see the business benefit from the established retail relationships that the Computer Systems division enjoys.

“We are already selling in stores such as Sharaf DG, but we also know that there was a lot of double effort because both divisions were going after the same retailers,” he explained. “That causes confusion on the retail side so now we are eliminating a lot of that. Most of our retailers actually like the efficiency of dealing with one contact at the Toshiba side.”

Walsh also insists the move will free up the Storage Devices division to focus on its core business.

“It means we can get back to doing what we do very best, which is actually developing the technology and coming first to market with the latest capacity points and technology trends,” he said.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM