Toshiba Cuts Its Notebook, Laptop Computer Prices
Toshiba America, responding to increased competition and price cutting by a major rival, said Thursday that it is slashing prices on its line of notebook and laptop computers 19% to 33%.
Tom Martin, a Toshiba vice president in Irvine, said the move is in part a response to Compaq Computer’s recent sharp price cuts on its notebook and portable models, and also the recent entry of International Business Machines into the notebook computer field.
“It’s more significant than our normal seasonal price changes,” Martin said. “This reflects competition as well as an easing of the supply of components for the notebook market.”
Notebooks are a sub-category of personal computers that generally weigh between five and eight pounds and are small enough to fit inside a briefcase.
Toshiba is the market leader in portables, which include notebooks and the larger laptop computers, but it faces increased competition from dozens of manufacturers.
“Toshiba has not enjoyed a particularly good year, and this is something they have to do to maintain market share,” said Steve Lair, a vice president at market researcher Dataquest Inc. in San Jose. “The ultimate winner is the end-user.”
Toshiba has about 23% of the $5-billion portable computer market, according to International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass., market research company.
Bruce Stephen, an IDC analyst, said that even after the price cuts Toshiba’s lowest-priced models will cost more than the basic models of other portable computer makers such as Dell Computer in Austin, Tex., and AST Research and Advanced Logic Research, both of Irvine.
After the reductions, Toshiba’s suggested retail prices for its portable computers range from $799 to $7,599, down from $999 to $9,499.
Lair said many retailers already sell Toshiba portable computers at a discount from the company’s suggested prices. Toshiba’s reductions are an attempt to bring retail prices closer to the discounted prices. One result, he said, could be smaller profits for Toshiba dealers.
