This reminds me a lot of Fujitsu changing its name to Socionext during a merger. Yes, Japanese companies, you should torch valuable brands that customers recognize for obtuse, flimsy names.
Yikes. Never heard of Socionext. Sounds like the name of a lame social network. But Kioxia is pretty bad as well. Toshiba is well known and I think well respected brand, so I agree, this seems terrible.
based on how similar it sounds to anoxia, I assume the people behind this were on the verge of suffocation and their brains were largely non-functional at the time the decision was made.
From Toshiba great memory came yet they wanted to change their good name but the CEO had anoxia and chose the name Kioxia so now they just sound really lame
They need a new name, since they're no longer part of Toshiba. Using the same name as another company would generate unnecessary confusion - especially if/when the spun-off company goes public.
PR Guy 1: "Well Toshiba says we can't use thier name anymore." PR 2: "That's fair, so how about just dropping Toshiba and calling ourselves The Memory Corporation. We could even use the same symbol TMC as before." PR 1: "Not bad, simple and direct and states the companies intention of being an industry leader." PR 3: "I got it! Lets make up a portmanteau of word from two different languages so most people won't know how its pronounced! That way in 6 months people will start to forget who we were and think we're some generic knockoff brand."
You have stumbled upon the Bain Capital special there. They buy valuable property and bleed it dry to jack up investor profits by saddling additional debt load on the company, sabotaging them via re-branding or illogical operational changes, then rip off all the employees (good bye retirement accounts) in bankruptcy proceedings to squeeze it dry before burning it down.
If I remember correctly Toshiba actually bought back most of its share from Bain Capital and there Toshiba Memory is technically stilled owned by Toshiba, just with less share holding.
I assume this IPO will truly allow Bain Capital to own the company. Which seems like a fair deal.
Toshiba Memory/Kioxia is pretty financially healthy now that it's separate from the rest of Toshiba and not burdened with their debt. They're the number 2 flash memory manufacturer, and if you add in their partner Western Digital/SanDisk, it's a very close second to Samsung. None of Micron, Hynix or Intel are in a position to overtake Toshiba in the near future.
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willis936 - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
This reminds me a lot of Fujitsu changing its name to Socionext during a merger. Yes, Japanese companies, you should torch valuable brands that customers recognize for obtuse, flimsy names.guidryp - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Yikes. Never heard of Socionext. Sounds like the name of a lame social network. But Kioxia is pretty bad as well. Toshiba is well known and I think well respected brand, so I agree, this seems terrible.DanNeely - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
based on how similar it sounds to anoxia, I assume the people behind this were on the verge of suffocation and their brains were largely non-functional at the time the decision was made.Uhtred - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
From Toshiba great memory cameyet they wanted to change their good name
but the CEO had anoxia
and chose the name Kioxia
so now they just sound really lame
Hul8 - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
They need a new name, since they're no longer part of Toshiba. Using the same name as another company would generate unnecessary confusion - especially if/when the spun-off company goes public.Hul8 - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Heck, I doubt a company could even get listed at a stock exchange if they had a name that could be confused with another company.QChronoD - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
PR Guy 1: "Well Toshiba says we can't use thier name anymore."PR 2: "That's fair, so how about just dropping Toshiba and calling ourselves The Memory Corporation. We could even use the same symbol TMC as before."
PR 1: "Not bad, simple and direct and states the companies intention of being an industry leader."
PR 3: "I got it! Lets make up a portmanteau of word from two different languages so most people won't know how its pronounced! That way in 6 months people will start to forget who we were and think we're some generic knockoff brand."
FullmetalTitan - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
You have stumbled upon the Bain Capital special there. They buy valuable property and bleed it dry to jack up investor profits by saddling additional debt load on the company, sabotaging them via re-branding or illogical operational changes, then rip off all the employees (good bye retirement accounts) in bankruptcy proceedings to squeeze it dry before burning it down.ksec - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
If I remember correctly Toshiba actually bought back most of its share from Bain Capital and there Toshiba Memory is technically stilled owned by Toshiba, just with less share holding.I assume this IPO will truly allow Bain Capital to own the company. Which seems like a fair deal.
dropme - Monday, July 22, 2019 - link
> I assume this IPO will truly allow Bain Capital to own the companyIt's Bain's stake that will be offered, not Toshiba's.
baka_toroi - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Only Microsoft could produce a worse re-branding than this one.Cullinaire - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
This reminds me of the golf company Srixon. The Japanese have a knack for coming up with some wild names that's for sure.DanNeely - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
I wonder if it sounds as awful in Japanese as it does in English?londedoganet - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Counterpoint to “Japanese can’t name”: Qimonda was German.rockphone - Monday, July 22, 2019 - link
ShibaTo is a better name.They are in the Tokyo / Shiba Prefecture area. That is how the name ToShiba came to being.
dropme - Monday, July 22, 2019 - link
Will there be a future for them? A company with shittier name making cheap nands that burdens signaficant amount of debts. I don't think so.if they re-entered DRAM market, things will be different but as of now, they're completely hopeless. Soon there will be another bail out for them.
Billy Tallis - Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - link
Toshiba Memory/Kioxia is pretty financially healthy now that it's separate from the rest of Toshiba and not burdened with their debt. They're the number 2 flash memory manufacturer, and if you add in their partner Western Digital/SanDisk, it's a very close second to Samsung. None of Micron, Hynix or Intel are in a position to overtake Toshiba in the near future.