As the war intensified, the company grew rapidly by filling state orders for radios, vacuum tubes and other military supplies, and also producing generators. However, production capacity was crippled by bombing raids targeting factories.

As production recovered in the postwar years, the company focused initially on heavy electrical machinery and then returned to making smaller electrical equipment as reconstruction progressed. New sales subsidiaries were established to strengthen sales capabilities and exports to Southeast Asia began.

Japan’s economy was booming by the second half of the 1950s, leading to rapid growth in the heavy electrical machinery, electronics and communications industries. Sales and profits grew quickly as Toshiba created novel products, developed original technologies, expanded existing factories and built new production facilities to supply fast-growing markets.

Overseas sales and manufacturing subsidiaries were established to develop the international business. The ratio of overseas sales gradually rose.

The economic downturn following the first oil crisis in 1973 led Toshiba to invest more heavily in R&D, the rationale being that profits were the source of corporate vitality while technology was the driving force behind business development. The expanded R&D organization and higher R&D spending led to many new technologies that were the first in the world or the first in Japan.

Other initiatives to improve production technology, maintain high quality, save labor and shorten delivery lead-times contributed to significantly higher profits.

In 1984, the abbreviated form “Toshiba” replaced Tokyo Shibaura Denki as the company’s official name (in English, “Toshiba Corporation” was adopted in 1983).

Economic stagnation in Japan during the 1990s led Toshiba to adopt the “concentration and selection” approach to achieve sustained growth. This involved concentrating resources in sectors with growth potential and new businesses, while selectively promoting growth in mature or declining sectors through reform and restructuring. Toshiba focused resources on semiconductors and expanded the PC business.

In 1999, Toshiba introduced the in-house company system, creating eight in-house companies. Authority was delegated to these in-house companies to give them greater autonomy and promote faster decision-making.

Rapid economic growth in developing countries and sluggish growth in the developed world have led to major changes in economic and industrial paradigms in the 21st century. To prevail amid intensifying global competition transcending national borders, Toshiba continues to focus on restructuring businesses to reinforce their earnings base while seeking to transform its overall business structure by targeting growth sectors and emerging businesses. The aim is to become an even stronger global contender by pursuing the “concentration and selection” approach while creating World's First and World's No. 1 products and services that are cost-competitive and captivate customers.