Toshiba will not officially make PCs. To be honest, it had taken a step back from making laptops in recent years, but this goes beyond that. It’s a complete turnaround.
Reported in a bit press release published this week, Toshiba issued a brief and to-the-point statement announcing that it had transferred its remaining minority stake in its personal computer business to Sharp. Toshiba sold 80.1% of this business unit, renaming its new owners Dynabook, to Sharp in 2018, retaining 19.9% of shares. Sharp currently sells laptops under the Dynabook name.
In its statement, Toshiba stated that Sharp had exercised its right to purchase the remaining shares of Dynabook, held by Toshiba at the end of June, and that it had completed procedures for its transfer.
“As a result of this transfer, Dynabook has become a subsidiary of Sharp,” said Toshiba.
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And with that, Toshiba said goodbye to personal computers. Nothing about the more than three-decade run in the PC business or about the feeling about leaving in his farewell statement. Yes, I get it; it’s just business. But I was expecting maybe a sentence or two that makes me think about his history.
Toshiba launched its first IBM-compatible laptop computer, the T1100, in 1985. It is considered as one of the computers that stimulated the growth of the laptop sector. May Computer World, although there were other laptops on the market, the T1100 included a basic set of features that would set the standard for PCs for the next two decades. These features include internal rechargeable batteries, an LCD screen, a 3.5-inch floppy disk and compatibility with the IBM PC.
However, some Toshiba executives were initially skeptical about the idea of a portable PC – in the 1980s PCs were popular, but very large – that were IBM compatible, per Computer World. The project faced many obstacles, from lack of funding to a floppy disk drive that was too small to run software but eventually passed on.
In 1985, Toshiba launched its T110. It had 256 KB of memory, a 640×200 pixel reflective LCD screen that could display 25 lines of 80 characters, and a 3.5-inch (8.9 cm) disc that supported 640KB and 720KB disks. In terms of size, the T1100 was about 12.2 inches (31.1 cm) by 2.5 inches (6.6 cm) by 12 inches (30.5 cm) and weighed nine pounds (4.1 kilograms). the moment cost it $ 1,999.
Oh how far have we come.
According to the register, Toshiba led the laptop market through the 1990s and well into the 2000s, and was often ranked among the top five PC vendors. What happened? Companies such as Lenovo, Apple, HP and Dell began to build better laptops, and Toshiba’s laptop business grew weaker. It sold the majority of the division to Sharp before $ 36 million in 2018.
To those who love Toshiba laptops, you will always have your memories. Tell us about them in the comments for a quick walk to the memory lane. As for Toshiba laptops, it has been good to know you.
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