Mr. Ishikawa, Toshiba Taiwan's procurement manager, noted  that Toshiba's procurements from Taiwanese makers will exceed US$10 billion in its 2008 fiscal year, representing a sharp growth of 45% from 2007 and higher than the corresponding figure recorded by Sony. Because the brand is planning to buy more notebook PCs and LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, the figure is expected to further rise by 20% in fiscal 2009.

So far, Toshiba has set up 6 IPOs (International Procurement Offices) worldwide, with procurements in Taiwan accounting for over half of the total, Ishikawa said. In fact, Toshiba has built its R&D center on the island as the foremost among Japanese notebook PC brands, in an attempt to take advantage of Taiwanese notebook PC makers' expertise. Plus, the brand is going to outsource 15 million units of own brand notebook PCs to Taiwanese suppliers, including Quanta Computer Inc., Compal Electronics Inc. and Inventec Corp., this fiscal year, according to Ishikawa.

In the meantime, Toshiba will double outsourced LCD TVs from Taiwanese makers to 4 million units, including models with screen sizes ranging from 19 inches to 46 inches, in fiscal 2009. Also, the brand is to raise procurements of display panels made by Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, besides Samsung and LG Display.

In addition to Compal, Toshiba is planning to add another Taiwanese maker to its LCD TV supplier list. Ishikawa stressed that Taiwanese EMS (electronic manufacturing service) providers, who achieve better cost and production efficiency, are most likely to win Toshiba's increasing orders for LCD TVs.