Toshiba Business Communications Division (BCD) is withdrawing its primary telephony products from the UK and Irish markets in early summer but pledged to continue a tech support operation.
In December last year Toshiba stated that it expected to report a record 550bn yen ($4.5bn) annual loss and axe 6,800 jobs amid restructuring efforts. The company also said it had overstated profits for six years.
A spokesperson for the vendor said: "After careful consideration, Toshiba has decided to move its IP Edge and Strata CIX products into technical support phase on the 1st June 2016 for the UK and Irish market.
Toshiba is committed to providing ongoing technical, licensing and spares support to its partners and customers and is already in communication with relevant parties regarding this decision to assist in their current and future planning."
The loyalty of UK partners to the Toshiba brand has not been repaid with the expected levels of support for five years, believes Colin Hepher, MD of Toshiba distributor SOS.
"This is very disappointing," he said. "There is bound to be a backlash from large companies, county councils and schools to name but a few that have been loyal to the brand.
"This has nothing to do with the financial declarations recently admitted. It's more a question of local management and channel commitment rather than the fault of Japan."
Toshiba's announcement that it proposes to withdraw the existing Strata CIX and IP Edge from the UK is not unexpected given the relatively small portion (<1%) of market share it has held in the past few years, and its desire to focus activities on areas of greater opportunity, observed Stephanie Watson, General Manager, MZA.
"Importantly, Toshiba will offer technical support to existing customers and channels, and naturally those customers and channels represent an opportunity for other vendors," she said.
"It's important to note that Toshiba has a much stronger position in the US market and has already introduced cloud solutions in that territory.
"As Toshiba rounds out its global portfolio, one cannot discount that it may choose to bring an appropriate cloud solution to the growing UK hosted market."