Toshiba India managing director Itaru Ishibashi (right) with Michiharu Watana Be, corporate vice-president of Japan’s Toshiba Corporation, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (AFP)

New Delhi, Jan. 24: Toshiba India Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of Japan’s Toshiba Corporation, today said it is looking at the possibility of introducing home appliances and GSM mobile phones in the Indian market.

“Diwali is a good season to do business here. We may consider introducing our products during the festival. Depending on the market feedback, we will launch products in home appliances and GSM segments,” said Itaru Ishibashi, managing director of Toshiba India.

The company plans to spend a few million dollars for building the brand prior to the formal launch.

Toshiba India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of $59-billion Toshiba Corporation of Japan, will take advantage of the India-Thailand free trade treaty and import these two product lines from Thailand. At present, Toshiba India imports all its products directly from the parent.

Ishibashi said the company is talking to dealers and distributors in India who will market its home appliances and mobile phones in the near future.

Responding to a query on whether Toshiba will set up a production facility in India to manufacture these products, he said, “We certainly cannot deny this possibility.”

Toshiba has done business worth $10 million in the April-December period and targets a growth of 15 per cent this year.

Toshiba Corporation’s group companies in India include Toshiba India and SoCrates, the software technology development centre at Bangalore.

The third company is Hyderabad-based TPSC India Pvt Ltd, which supports Toshiba’s engineering and construction works in power and industrial projects in India.

Senior Toshiba Corp officials said the company has set a target of earning 50 per cent of its total revenues from overseas markets.

Talking about Toshiba’s market share in India, Ishibashi said, “At the moment, we have a very small market share. And clearly, we have no demarcation between India and China. They both are equally important.”

Toshiba Corporation is present in a wide range of product categories, including power systems and services, office automation, computer systems, home entertainment, air-conditioners, medical systems and semi-conductors.