Toshiba's notebook computers are squeezing in on desktop market share in Asia and will likely be in the top 10 overall computer sellers in Asia for 1997, according to Dataquest, a worldwide information technology market research company.
Last year, Toshiba made Dataquest's top 10 list in Australia, including sales of desk-bound and desk-side equipment, such as desktops, servers and notebooks, Cherry Velarde, at Dataquest's Hong Kong office, said.
Toshiba had '78 per cent more market growth in 1996 compared with 1995, the biggest growth of any vendor in Asia's top 10 at least, and number 12 overall for 1996 in Asia', Ms Velarde said.
According to Dataquest, Asia's top 12 computer sellers are Compaq, Samson, Acer, IBM, Trigem Computer, Hewlett Packard, AST, Apple, Digital, Sejin Computer, LG Electronics and Toshiba (which only sells notebook computers in Asia).
Toshiba was the No. 1 selling notebook computer in the world in 1995 and 1996. The latest figures show Toshiba with a 21.2 per cent world market share in the third quarter of last year for its notebooks, according to figures from International Data Corporation (IDC).
The Japanese computer maker has sold 7,200,000 units since it introduced its first portable computer in 1985, the T1100.
Asked how Toshiba was able to capture such a large market share, Ms Velarde said: 'For one, we believe they have very good technology and have been able to effectively transition this technology from the high end to their low end products, allowing other people to do those things [high end users do], which makes a product really successful.' Ms Velarde said Toshiba had prospered with high-end corporate business users and had built its reputation in this sector.