Chapter 1: Was there another gear?
I look back at customer meetings in early 2016, where we heard that our competitors were suggesting that Toshiba would fail at these higher volumes and therefore shouldn’t be trusted. With our HDD division already laser focused on execution and strategic partnership, we appreciated the extra motivation. Was there another gear beyond relentless effort? If so, we found it. Let’s call it unrelenting determination…pedal to the metal.
As the story goes, and as reported by IDC*, we finished 2CQ16 at 22% HDD unit market share. At the time this was an all-time record for Toshiba, and not only did it prove the naysayers wrong, it set a new foundation of partnership and level of trust across all of our key customers, enabling successive quarters of share growth in 3CQ16 and 4CQ16, culminating in 24% record share.
Chapter 2: That high octane did what? Let’s validate this
A customer comment that I now hear frequently goes along the lines of, “this is not the Toshiba I knew a few years ago”. It’s important to understand the factors that contributed to our high octane fuel -continued product breadth expansion to improve total available market coverage; broadened presence across key OEM partners, cloud datacenters and channel expansion; strong collaboration across storage device offerings to address volume and velocity storage needs. While all of these were instrumental to the formula, the most important was changing how we do business. This meant deepening relationships and backing it with execution, all in the pursuit to be a world-class partner.
In the Americas, where greater than 60% of enterprise purchasing decisions are made and PC OEMs are on the leading-edge of platform offerings, TAEC’s efforts were specifically at the forefront of gaining HDD market share for Toshiba.
Beyond the multitude of customer comments, who are first hand-witnesses to Toshiba’s HDD business transformation, the validation is in the numbers, as recognized in IDC’s* “Worldwide 4Q16 HDD Shipment Results and Four-Quarter Forecast Update":
- The only HDD vendor to grow revenue in 2016 over 2015
- The only HDD vendor to grow units in 2016 over 2015
- As a result of the above, Toshiba grew YoY revenue share by 25% and unit share by 36%
- The only HDD vendor to grow unit share and revenue share quarterly YoY in every quarter of 2016
- The only HDD vendor to grow unit share and revenue share sequentially in every quarter of 2016
Chapter 3: Highway 2016 was a wonderful ride – Sincere gratitude and thanks
We are sincerely grateful to all of our key customers, who put their trust in Toshiba’s ability to support a greater proportion of their storage needs in 2016 and believed in our technology-leading products across both client and enterprise segments. We highly value all of the extraordinary HDD business opportunities that each and every customer brings to market.
Equally noteworthy is the performance of all functional Toshiba teams within the Americas and globally. Their execution was nothing short of exceptional. Our unrelenting determination to win each day, in everything we do, from development, to technical support, to fulfillment, has put us in the fast lane to future success.
Looking for the glossary and index? Sorry, this is just the beginning……
This journey has only begun. While 2016 was a record year for our HDD business, we remain committed and driven to take Toshiba’s HDD business to even further heights. We remain dedicated to delivering innovative HDD products and world-class service levels to our expanding customer base, in the never ending pursuit to drive mutual growth and prosperity.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.