Toshiba will reportedly sell its notebook factory in Hangzhou, eastern China, and has inquired about a few Taiwan-based notebook ODMs' interest, according to industry sources.

The factory used to be the largest single notebook factory around the world and Toshiba was once the third-largest notebook vendor, the sources said.

But it is not a good time to purchase the factory because there is global overcapacity for notebook ODM production, the sources noted. Therefore, Taiwan-based notebook ODMs are unlikely to purchase the factory. However, if Toshiba can sell the factory bundled with other businesses, especially IoT (Internet of Things) and industrial computing, Taiwan-based notebook ODMs will be highly interested in the deal, the sources explained.

In order to extend operations to IoT or industrial computing technologies, Compal Electronics and Wistron have invested in Taiwan-based industrial computing device makers Avalue Technology and Arbor Technology, respectively, while Inventec has established a joint venture, AIMobile, with Taiwan-based industrial computing solution provider Advantech, the sources noted.

Toshiba is negotiating about combining its PC business with Fujitsu's PC business and Vaio, but has not yet reached a consensus, and this may be related to Toshiba's plan to sell the notebook factory, the sources said. In addition, Toshiba has decided to quit the consumer PC business and focus on enterprise PCs, the sources noted.