Toshiba is a leading multinational conglomerate based out of Tokyo, Japan. Their main products are consumer electronics, semiconductors, and infrastructure related goods. Toshiba is also the fifth world’s largest manufacturer of personal computers.
Toshiba was founded in 1939 by the merging of two companies and was initially called Tokyo Shibaura Denki before officially becoming Toshiba in 1978. They have been responsible for numerous Japanese firsts including the development of radar in 1942, the first microwave oven and transistor television in 1959, and the DVD in 1995. Toshiba was also responsible for co-developing the HD-DVD format along with NEC and Sanyo, but that venture fell through when it became apparent that Blu-Ray was winning the format wars. Nevertheless, Toshiba is still a strong presence in the consumer electronics market.
Most consumers in the West normally associate Toshiba with electronic devices but in reality the company is diversified across a wide range of fields. Toshiba also designs and builds nuclear reactors for civilian use as well as heavy industrial equipment. In 1987, Toshiba was involved in a controversy which involved the selling of hi-tech milling machines to the Soviet Union. The machines, which could be used to manufacture extremely quiet propellers for the Soviet Navy prompted strong protests from the U.S.
