Toshiba Relaunches Branded TVs in Europe Under Licensing Deal With Vestel

Toshiba is relaunching branded TVs in Europe, five years after stopping production in Japan, via the licensing deal it announced with Turkish CE and appliance giant Vestel at last year’s IFA show in Berlin (see 1609020024). “It’s a fresh brand approach,” Matthew Lang, managing director of Vestel U.K., told a London media briefing Thursday. “With the relaunch of Toshiba TVs in Europe, we are combining Toshiba’s engineering and design prowess with Vestel’s manufacturing capacity.” The new Toshiba-branded TVs will play “in the market space between the high-end and low-cost sectors,” where “the customer does not have much choice or many options,” said Lang. “The market is crying out for more choice in the middle ground. Vestel has been working with Toshiba for 10 years and we now have a new licensing deal and have built a strong, small tightly effective team that will attack the mid-section with great technology at affordable prices.” Lang sees the arrangement as “a win-win,” he said. The company isn't now disclosing prices. The relaunch covers all markets in Europe, with no plans yet for elsewhere, Marketing Manager Dave Flintoft told us at the briefing. “This relaunch is across Europe. The USA would be a great opportunity and we are not saying no. That may be the next step.” Toshiba representatives didn’t comment Thursday. When Toshiba pulled the plug on its North American TV business two years ago, it said it would cease TV development and sales operations and license the North American TV business to Taiwan’s Compal Electronics, the original design manufacturer with which Toshiba has had a longstanding supply relationship (see 1501290047).