Toshiba to carry forward its 142 year legacy with new product innovations

Toshiba has recently forayed into the audio segment by launching a complete range of audio products in the country. Santosh Varghese, Vice President - General Manager& Digital Products & Solutions - Toshiba Gulf FZE in a chat discusses the company’s GTM strategy and the plans for the audio market

India is a strategic growth market for Toshiba, Considering the business potential for Audio products in India which is estimated to be around $1-Billion this year, which is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% until 2021. 

“Our product strategy will be focused mainly around high value products like Sound bars and range of trolley speakers, and high volume products like mobile accessories including On/IN/Over the ear phones mainly in the Wireless/BT category,” says Santosh Varghese, Vice President & General Manager, Digital Products & Solutions - Toshiba Gulf FZE. 

Currently in Japan, Toshiba Audio products have a 40% market share in the RCR category. In India, its target is to achieve 15-18% market share within 2020. To achieve this target, Toshiba is investing in brand category development by connecting with its target segment including Zillennials and GenX Xennials, channel development, and implement a solid product-sellout driven business model. 

Toshiba’s ‘Go-to-market’ strategy will be to focus more on locally fit products that deliver high quality and reliability; introduce a range of products & technology that fit the wide range of market segment in India especially focusing on Category B & C towns and a good mix of online and offline sales channel. 

“We will focus on Toshiba’s USP of high quality and reliability of its products which will be our competitive edge in this crowded audio segment. We will also focus on ‘’Time to Market’’ by introducing the latest technology in the Audio segment,” says Santosh.

He further adds, “We will be launching a wide range of entry and mid-range audio products. We will also be introducing a wide range of differentiated model in the mobile accessories segment and nostalgic models for GenX like the Vinyl Players, Transistor Radios, and Cassette Players.”

There seems to be a clear shift from ‘price-sensitivity’ to ‘quality-consciousness’. As brands like Toshiba step in with high quality and reliable products, consumers are now increasingly staying clear from low-priced unbranded products. As most unbranded players don’t focus on quality, they just add to the ‘digital waste’ in India.

“Toshiba’s long and rich history of innovation for over 142 years has witnessed many ‘Industry First’ innovations that set the benchmark and we will continue to build on our brand philosophy based on this culture of Leading Innovation,” concludes Santosh.