Toshiba Sees Nuclear Payoff

[FBaggins]

As Demand for Reactors Picks Up, Westinghouse Acquisition Shows Promise

TOKYO—After staking its future on its pricey 2006 acquisition of nuclear-power firm Westinghouse Electric Co., Toshiba Corp. says the gamble is starting to pay off with projections for a steady increase in orders and revenue.

The Japanese electronics conglomerate has positioned nuclear-power systems as a stable counterweight of earnings to its more volatile memory-chip business, which dragged Toshiba deep into the red when the global financial crisis sapped demand for consumer electronic devices.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Toshiba President and Chief Executive Norio Sasaki said the nuclear market is potentially huge, with a need for as many as 1,280 reactors over the next 40 years, or an average of 32 reactors a year, based on forecasts by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

...snip...

Mr. Sasaki said the Westinghouse deal has already brought in more revenue than initially projected. Toshiba is targeting 39 new orders for reactors by 2015 while generating one trillion yen, or $10.7 billion, in revenue in the fiscal year ending March 2016 compared to 600 billion yen in the fiscal year just ended.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704250104575237790790410712.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

[Kolesar]

1. I remember when Toshiba dumped memory chips in the US to destroy Intel

They sold memory chips below cost as a long term strategy to steal that part of the electronics industry.

[Greyskye]

2. Yep. They dumped prices on SRAMS

I was working for Intel with a memory design team at the time. :)

In retrospect, I think it turned out to be a good thing. It mostly got us out of the commodity market, and kicked us into ramping up efforts in alternative technologies. E^2, which led to Flash, which led to Phase Change Memory (PCM) etc.

Ah, the first tech bubble crash. I remember it well. :rofl: