Toshiba - The Scandalous Struggle

Despite being such an innovative company, Toshiba has experienced some major setbacks over the years that have resulted from a combination of both poor business decisions and public scandals. This video highlights the most notable ones.

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Company Declines:
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[bjhaines]

I remember being in a business class at Oklahoma State University back in 1991 or 1992 and a Japanese student in my group had this slick black laptop. First one I’d really seen and used and I was so impressed. Toshiba.

[taptiotrevizo]

Love it when you cover scandals. Keep up the good work.

[christiankroemer]

I just feel bad for Toshiba rather than anger. Repeatedly taking hits and losses, varying from within their control to completely outside of their power. Slowly over time, they become the villain character seeking to find a win at any cost.

[kevinbarry]

If you are old enough to remember the 80s; it is amazing how many Japanese companies from the time which seemed so strong are now gone, or enormously diminished. About the only exception is Toyota and Honda.

[WinterWind]

My Toshiba laptop lasted me 10 years. What a great machine it was 😊

[RetardiusMaximus]

Man, I remember envying some of my mates because they have Toshibas while I'm rocking an older Acer. Honestly, It's a shame to see them almost gone because their products are always, and I mean ALWAYS better in some ways than their competitors and definitely more reliable.

[ROTSTarge]

looking up westinghouse after this, apparently it's now owned by Viacom, which is part of Paramount? A "Bigger than you know" for Paramount would probably be neat

[iOZKERTV]

I have a special place for Toshiba since it was our Tv from the late 80s until 2006 when it finally died, the amazing Toshiba cx3288j, the 32 tube tv swiveled left or right with a built in motor, had amazing surround speakers that also swiveled and it’s how I played my Sega genesis all the way to the PS2

[mvanalst]

Some of the best quality laptops I have ever used were Toshiba’s. I was let down when I found out they stopped making them. This video answered a few questions. Thank you!

[lmpeters]

I remember that circa 2011, Toshiba came out with an early Android tablet called the Thrive, which was noticeably thicker than competing tablets of the era, but it had a full-size USB port, a full-size SD card slot, and a user-serviceable battery, all of which were (and still are) practically unheard of on tablets. Unfortunately, it was less stable than other tablets due to a faulty graphics driver that they didn't patch until almost a year after release, and in any case, those features were not enough to draw customers away from competing products (especially the iPad).

[FrenchCelt]

As soon as you started the list, I was wondering where HD DVD would fall on it. Back in 2007 I followed that format war closely, because I wanted to make sure I didn't back the losing side. I was a kid when Betamax lost out to VHS, and I remember all the people who bought Betamax players being pretty upset. I ended up backing Blu-ray because of the Sony PS3, and that was probably what most helped win the format war, along with some key deals with movie studios, plus the failure to include a built in HD DVD player in the Xbox 360. You had to buy a separate unit for that, which was definitely a bad call on Microsoft's part.

[pablocasas]

The accounting fraud was definitely the worst scandal, as you said the other were just poor business decisions and the submarine thing was more of a political problem.
Speaking about Japanese electronics companies, you should make a video about Sharp, its history is quite interesting and they've a curious relationship with Nintendo

[bgradionetwork]

Wow didn't know Toshiba still existed. Also thanks for solving the mystery of why Toshiba laptops which were everywhere in the early to mid 2000s vanished into thin air. Good work as always Company Man.

[austinshafted]

The great content you put out makes me feel like I'm getting an update from a passionate close friend, who just wants to drop some knowledge on me.

[nvn]

The number 1 reason for all companies sunk in failure was STUBBORNNESS. They all refused to cut loss until reaching their diminishing value.

[VGHSyntheticOrchestra]

I found a 36" Toshiba CRT for free on Craigslist a couple years ago. Has 2 RCA ins, an RCA out, 1 component in, 2 antenna ins, an antenna out, and audio out. It's a pretty solid beast.

[junrosamura]

Growing up in the 80s, Toshiba was a good brand. However they fell apart in the 90s from my experience. I had several folks who owned Toshiba laptops with problems and their TVs were lackluster at best. DVD players are their bread and butter which are sold even today at my local Japanese electronic shops.

[michaelcannon]

I love Toshiba from their TV’s to their laptops….

[joshuafurr]

My very first laptop was a Toshiba Satellite in I think 2003 or 2004. And I got it from Circuit City haha. Interesting to see where both companies are now.

[Gekayy]

Toshiba used to be an amazing company, they turned sour really fast after years of faking it.