MAKATI, Philippines – Expecting growth prospects in the home appliance market in the Philippines, Japanese electronics firm Toshiba is bringing in its own appliance models. The company will start with refrigerators and washing machines.

Toshiba is more popular in the Philippines for selling high definition TVs and notebook computers.

As part of its expansion in the country, Toshiba partnered with the Philippine representative of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to market its appliances in the Philippines, as well as its more established TV and notebook computer business.

Toshiba Asia Pacific General Manager for Strategic Planning Division Hiroyuki Ishida said in a press conference that despite its lack of presence in the Philippines it is confident that the appliance business in the Philippines would continue to grow as more people consider these devices as necessities. He added that the Philippines is one of the few Asian countries where Toshiba has no appliance business yet.

He also noted that Toshiba Philippines hopes to get just at least five percent of the market share for appliances in the country in the next two to three years, a modest figure compared to the outlook of other brands.

“We're basically starting from zero, but we're here in the Philippines because we believe it has potential,” Ishida said.

As for its HDTV and computer business, Ishida said it is hoping to gain seven percent and five percent this year, respectively. However, it is targeting to get 10 percent market share for both segments by 2010.

Toshiba's HDTV is branded “Regza” while its notebook computers are branded as “Portege,” “Satellite,” “Tecra,” and “Qosmio.”

Ishida also added that the company will be hiring more workers for its two factories in Laguna, which currently has about 13,000 workers. These plants produce hard disks.