Toshiba has cut sales and profit forecasts for 2003 as demand for its notebooks and chips slide.

But it has a three year plan to double profits by 2004.

It said demand for its IT products such as networks and digital devices had not grown as it had initially expected.

Back in February Toshiba has slashed its full year profit forecast for fiscal 2000 by 30 per cent because of weak memory chip prices and poor notebook sales in the US. PC sales estimates dropped to 720 billion yen ($6.3 billion) from 810 billion yen ($7.03 billion). to March 31. Chip revenues have been dropped to 1,120 billion yen ($9.77 billion) from 1.18 trillion yen.

Tosh now expects to report net income of 96 billion yen ($835 million) for the year.

The profit-doubling scheme for the year to March 2004 involves investing in IT. It's going to spend 310 billion yen ($2.5 billion) getting an 'in-house IT usage rate' of 100 per cent, whatever that means, and 900 billion yen ($7.27 billion) on IT R&D. Toshiba expects this to result in profits of 200 billion yen ($1.62 billion) on sales of 7.9 trillion yen ($63.84 billion).

Toshiba also expects a recovery in its chip sales, and is aiming for sales of 1.65 trillion yen ($13.33
billion) by 2004. ®

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