Toshiba hopes smartphones can lead LCD boom

Toshiba may turn its first annual profit on liquid-crystal display panels in four years as sales of smartphones and tablet computers boom, the company's chief executive said today.

Norio Sasaki suggested profit could be at least 10 billion yen (£76.2 million), topping the company's forecast for breaking even. "If all goes well, it's possible we could see profit in three figures this year," he said of the LCD unit.

He said he also expected demand for Toshiba's NAND flash memory chips, which are used in Apple's iPhone, to be stronger in the first quarter of the new year.

Sasaki, 61, took the helm at Toshiba 18 months ago, vowing to sharpen the focus of the sprawling conglomerate, taking a hard line on costs across businesses from nuclear power stations to home appliances.

He said he would be cautious about big investments in the volatile LCD sector. This week Toshiba denied a media report that it was planning to spend about 100 billion yen on a new plant in Japan, mainly to supply Apple.

"Nothing is decided on further investment amid the current volatility, although the demand is there," Sasaki said. "Profits would rise quickly. But when they stop rising, you have to make sure you don't fall into the red."