Toshiba brand disappears from PC market

Products rebranded to Dynabook following acquisition by Sharp

The Toshiba name has vanished from the PC market following the sale of the vendor's client solutions unit to Sharp.

Troubled Toshiba announced the sale of its PC subsidiary to Sharp last June, just a week after offloading its member division.

The business has now been renamed Dynabook, a name previously used for a string of notebook models.

Dynabook's European president Damian Jaume said: "The Dynabook brand epitomises our rich heritage of over 30 years of innovation in mobile computing while representing our renewed investment and scale.

"Our brand is more than a name or logo, it is the embodiment of our culture and our values. These remain consistent and strong in Dynabook Europe through our highly skilled and knowledgeable people; our award-winning products; our obsession with quality, security, and innovation; and our emphasis on trust and building long-standing partnerships.

"We look forward to a future where we enhance our value to our partners and customers, and bring growth and success to our business in Europe."

Toshiba launched the first laptop PC in 1985 and at its peak sold over 17 million PCs annually. This sank to below two million last year.

In comparison, Lenovo was the world's largest PC vendor in Q4 last year, shipping 16.6 million units.

Fellow Japanese vendor Fujitsu also flogged its PC business recently, with Lenovo taking a majority stake in the operation.

Toshiba has retained a 19.9 per cent stake in the PC arm, with Sharp owning the remaining 80.1 per cent.

The vendor has been scrambling to flog various units of its business to offset huge losses in its nuclear division.

Last year it completed the sale of its memory business for $18bn (£13.8bn), to a consortium include Apple and Dell.