Toshiba's Storage Business Strategy

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toshiba (TOKYO:6502):

With the world's population expected to exceed nine billion by mid-century, the issue of how to make the most of limited energy resources has risen to the top of the global agenda. There is growing recognition that the smart community is an effective way of tackling this pressing issue. Smart communities are environmentally friendly, economic, and achieve stable electricity supply by striking a balance between electricity demand that changes with on the season and the time of day and electricity supply, including power generation using renewables.

At the heart of every smart community will be powerful IT infrastructure and mechatronics that estimates electricity demand, the amount of electricity generated, etc. by analyzing the big data gathered from smart meters, surveillance cameras, medical sensor terminals, social networking services (SNS), and so on. IT infrastructure consisting of servers and storage systems connected over the Internet sustains cloud computing and will continue to grow as an element of large-scale, efficient and advanced social infrastructure.

Total Storage Innovation is Toshiba's shorthand for the suite of capabilities required to efficiently store big data, output data as necessary, and process it appropriately. We aim to meet diversifying storage requirements by offering high-quality, differentiated solutions employing the cutting edge technologies.

Mr. Hironobu Nishikori, Corporate Senior Vice President of Semiconductor & Storage Company, comments: "HDD and flash memory technologies will continue to coexist, taking advantage of their respective characteristics. Toshiba is the only vendor covering the spectrum of HDD, SSD and NAND flash memory. Inspired by our vision of Total Storage Innovation, we aim to be the leading storage solution provider in the evolving cloud & big data era.
Big data has three essential attributes: volume for over petabytes data, velocity for real time data processing and analytics and variety for mixture of structured and unstructured data. The key to product differentiation lies in real-time analytics of that data to maneuver social infrastructure system in timely manner . Towards that Toshiba will offer storage solutions that address each of the 3Vs.

Mindful of fast-emerging possibilities, not least those associated with cloud computing, in fiscal 2013 Toshiba is focusing on the following storage products.

1. Enterprise storage products (integration of HDD and SSD)
As networks proliferate and their technologies continue to progress, the world is being inundated by a rising tide of data generated by SNS terminals and sensors. The numbers are startling: reflecting the rise of cloud computing, people will have to deal with about 40 zettabytes of data in 2020.
Toshiba will offer HDDs ideal for storage of large volume of data. At the same time, the company will strengthen its offerings of enterprise SSD suitable for data transfer at high velocity by exploiting the synergy of its proprietary NAND flash memory technology and know-how in controller and firmware design for enterprise HDDs.
Further, storage products must provide enhanced reliability and security functions to underpin enterprise activities. We will emphasize HDD/SSD products with encryption functions.
We will offer a range of storage products with characteristics suited to handling data in the era of cloud computing and capable of satisfying a wide range of system requirements.
The cloud computing and big data revolution is expected to transform the storage business environment over the next 10 years. By anticipating that transformation, Toshiba will offer cutting-edge solutions inspired by Total Storage Innovation.

2. Client storage products
Hybrid drives
Hybrid drives are the fruits of a synergy between NAND flash memory, SSD, and HDD technologies. Hybrid drives are HDDs with NAND flash memory that offer capacities as large as HDD and speeds comparable to SSD. Featuring self-learning algorithms to identify user access patterns, a hybrid drive optimally assigns data to three layers of storage devices consisting of DRAM, NAND flash and magnetic disks. The result is a start-up time as quick as an SSD's. Toshiba's strengths in both NAND flash memory and SSD/HDD technologies have a multiplier effect, giving our hybrid drives performances far superior to those of conventional HDDs. With hybrid drives to the fore, Toshiba aims to expand its share of the market for client storage products.

Consumer products
Rising demand for external HDDs attests to their attractiveness as a neat solution for those requiring additional storage capacity for moving data from the HDD or SSD built into PCs, for back-up, or for recording TV programs. Toshiba offers a wide choice of external HDDs, including the world's smallest and lightest¹ 9-mm-thick portable HDDs, portable HDDs up to 2 terabytes (up to 1.5 terabytes for models for the Japanese market) that do not require a power cable, and 3-terabyte external hard disks (2 terabytes for the Japanese market). This extensive line-up of captivating products is one compelling reason why Toshiba has already won a 25% share² of the North American and European markets for external HDDs. Building on that strong presence, Toshiba intends to grow the business by offering a wider choice of consumer products geared to diversifying needs.

1 For cubic volume and weight among 2.5-inch portable HDDs. Toshiba data, as of April 4, 2013
2 Among 2.5-inch portable HDDs. Toshiba data, as of April 4, 2013

About Toshiba

Toshiba is a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems. Toshiba Group brings innovation and imagination to a wide range of businesses: digital products, including LCD TVs, notebook PCs, retail solutions and MFPs; electronic devices, including semiconductors, storage products and materials; industrial and social infrastructure systems, including power generation systems, smart community solutions, medical systems and escalators & elevators; and home appliances.

Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 550 consolidated companies, with 202,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing 6.1 trillion yen (US$74 billion). Visit Toshiba's web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm