And baseball bats.
And paintball guns.
The ad campaign is called "Field Testing with Matt and Jamie," and it features two men doing their best to destroy Toshiba’s new SSD-equipped Portégé Ultrabook.
In another ad, Toshiba takes aim at HP’s laptop technology.
More than a decade ago, Toshiba was the dominant global laptop brand before falling dramatically to HP and Dell in 2003. Sales in the company’s home country of Japan also fell heavily during the 2000s, surprising many investors and casting doubt on Toshiba’s future in the laptop sector. However, the company has performed steadily in the European market.
Last year, Toshiba turned toward India to boost laptop sales. This year, the company also began selling a 13-inch Google Chromebook that was generally well reviewed due to the extended battery life. Toshiba also began rolling out mid-priced laptops aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.
Still, Toshiba’s sales have been flat, and in 2012 the company didn’t even crack the top 5 in global PC sales, according to tech research firm Gartner.
Toshiba’s "Field Testing" marketing campaign also features the company’s Encore tablets, which have also been widely praised for extended battery life. SSD technology boasts extended battery life as one of its core features. However, some reviewers have complained of bugs and slow loading times for the tablet, which is priced slightly more than similar devices.
Toshiba recently acquired Silicon Valley-based OCZ Storage Solutions, a company that makes SSD technology. Toshiba purchased the company after OCZ filed for bankruptcy late last year. The $35 million deal that allows OCZ to continue to operate independently was finalized last week.
