THE FALL OF TOSHIBA
Toshiba was formed in 1939 through a merger between Shibaura Engineering Works and
Tokyo Electric Company, and subsequently pioneered the development of electrical equipment in
Japan. Prior to World War II, Toshiba developed the first fluorescent lamps and radar in Japan,
and had ambitions to become one of the world’s leading electrical machinery manufacturers.
By 2000, Toshiba had become the world’s fourth largest chip manufacturer and third
largest notebook computer manufacturer. By then the company was organized into six divisions.
Information & communications and industrial systems was the largest division, accounting for 30
percent of sales. Shortly thereafter, the company refocused its corporate strategy to place greater
emphasis on building nuclear power plants, which was expected to be driven primarily by
increased demand in China and the United States. In 2005, when British Nuclear Fuels put its U.S.
