Restructuring costs, "weak" demand driving down the prices of semiconductors; and losses at its chip operations, have all together contributed to the fifth consecutive quarterly loss for Japan's foremost chipmaker Toshiba Corp.!

Reporting its April-June quarter results on Wednesday, the electronics conglomerate said that its net loss widened to 57.8 billion yen, from the year-before net loss of 11.6 billion yen. The analysts in a Thomas Reuters' survey had estimated the company's loss to be 38.4 billion yen.

The Tokyo-based Toshiba also posted a 17 percent year-on-year fall in its quarterly revenue - from 1.618 trillion yen to 1.34 trillion yen. In addition, the deficit at Toshiba's chip unit widened to 36.2 billion yen from the last year deficit of 30.2 billion yen.

In an attempt to withstand the noticeable slump in chip demand - which brought about the widest-ever yearly deficit in Toshiba's 70-year history -, the company is relying on power-generation and social- infrastructure operations.

Toshiba's President Norio Sasaki has said that the profitability of the chipmaker will likely be restored this fiscal year, by way of over 300 billion yen savings resulting from layoffs of temporary workers, increased chip efficiency, and spending cuts.

At a briefing in Tokyo on Wednesday, Toshiba's Corporate Executive VP Fumio Muraoka said that already cost cuts had helped the company post an operating loss less than the projected 60 billion yen!