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Toshiba Moves Up to Third in Key Telephone System Market Share, With 33 Percent Increase in Shipments in First Quarter 2004

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

IRVINE, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Solutions Division (TAIS DSD) today announced that it ranked third in market share in the Key Telephone Systems (KTS) category for First Quarter 2004, according to industry market analyst InfoTech of Parsippany, N.J.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040610/LATOSHIBALOGO)

Toshiba's shipments increased 33 percent in the first quarter of 2004 over the same quarter last year, out-performing the market which grew 13 percent by comparison. Moving from 7.3 percent for the 3Q01 to 14.2 percent for 1Q04, Toshiba has essentially doubled its market share in less than three years. InfoTech credits Toshiba's increase in market share to its competitive Strata CTX product and to its dealer incentives and promotions.

"We attribute our significant leap in market share in Key Telephone Systems to our highly competitive Strata CTX family of IP-enabled digital business telephone systems and to our loyal and supportive Toshiba Authorized Dealer Network," said Michael E. Durance, vice president and general manager of TAIS DSD. "As telecom sales declined significantly in 2001-2002, we continued to invest in product development, hire market-facing positions, and deliver dealer programs that helped them sell in the face of adversity."

Among the products Toshiba attributes to its success in moving up the market share ladder is the award-winning Strata(R) CTX100-S, which is one of the industry's only smaller systems with the ability to migrate to a larger size, with optional integrated voice mail and networking capabilities. The Strata CTX100-S is a robust, turnkey business communication system supporting up to 16 ports in a mix-and-match configuration of CO lines, IP, digital, and analog stations.

"Since we believe in serving our customers for the life of their business, offering a fully robust small telephone system that grows as their business grows has helped us be extremely competitive in the category of very small systems," Durance explained. "As well, our entire Strata CTX product line is among the most reliable, dependable and durable in the industry."

InfoTech also attributed Toshiba's success to its dealer incentives and promotions, which have included the industry's only seven-year optional manufacturer's warranty, affordable leasing programs, extensive sales and technical training, hands-on tech support with among the shortest wait-times in the industry, and its National Accounts program that connects dealers across the country into a cohesive sales and service machine.

"Toshiba has experienced significant market share growth in the Key/Hybrid systems market over the past couple of years," said Frank Stinson, program director at InfoTech. "New products, product enhancements, and dealer incentives all played a role in this performance, and are evidence of the growth focus of Toshiba's management."

About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of three divisions: Digital Products Division, Digital Solutions Division and the Storage Device Division. Together, the three divisions provide mobile products and solutions, communications, storage and imaging products and services. Products include industry leading portable computers, PDAs, projectors, DVD/CD recordable products and hard disk drives for computers, telephony products, digital imaging systems, servers, wireless solutions and services. TAIS provides sales, marketing and services for its wide range of information products in the United States and Latin America. TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, which is a world leader in high technology and integrated manufacturing of electrical and electronic components, products and systems. Toshiba has global sales of over $52 billion and more than 300 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For more information visit the company's Web site at http://www.toshiba.com/.

For further information, please contact Teri Bruno of TBPR, +1-714-536-8407, teribruno@aol.com, for Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040610/LATOSHIBALOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.

CONTACT: Teri Bruno of TBPR, +1-714-536-8407, teribruno@aol.com, forToshiba America Information Systems, Inc.

Web site: http://www.toshiba.com/

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