Kobierzyce, Poland--Toshiba Corporation today celebrated the official opening of Toshiba Television Central Europe Sp. zo. o. (TTCE), a new production and sales company for LCD TVs in Kobierzyce, southwest Poland. Toshiba executives were joined for the opening ceremony and a reception by representatives of the national and local government and other guests.

Toshiba established TTCE in September 2006 as a key element in its strategy to strengthen its LCD TV business and expand production and sales in Europe. Manufacturing started in July 2007, and has now been ramped up to full scale production.

The opening ceremony at the Kobierzyce site, located near Wroclaw, was attended by Mr. Marcin Korolec, the Vice Minister of the Economy, Mr. Ryuichi Tanabe, the Japanese ambassador to Poland, other representatives from the national and local government, and other guests, including Toshiba's business partners. Toshiba was represented by Mr. Toshio Yonezawa, corporate senior executive vice president. The ceremony underlined the contribution that Toshiba expects to make to the Kobierzyce community, and included the presentation of LCD TVs manufactured at the plant to three local schools.

Global demand for LCD TVs has doubled every year since FY2001. Demand growth is particularly strong in Europe, already the world's largest LCD TV market, and is expected to expand from almost 16 million units in FY2006 to approximately 33 million units in FY2009^*1.

Toshiba already manufactures LCD TVs in Europe at Toshiba Information Systems (UK) Ltd. The new Polish plant provides a second production base that will support Toshiba in meeting growing demand and reinforcing its presence in the pan-European market. The Company targets production of some three million units in Europe by FY2009, with the main focus on large sized LCD TVs with screen sizes of 32-inches and above.

Toshiba plans to invest a total of about six billion yen in TTCE over the next five years, and will use the output from the plant to win an increased share of the European LCD TV market.

Outline of TTCE

^*1 Toshiba's forecast