For the stock to rise further, investors say, Okamura needs to push out new products that can gain a top-three market share.
Finding focus will be hard, investors say, since Toshiba makes everything from notebook computers, semiconductors, elevators, vacuum cleaners and electric power plant equipment, to liquid-crystal displays.
"Toshiba doesn't have a core business," said Fumiaki Sato, an analyst at Deutsche Securities Ltd, who rates Toshiba's shares "underperform." "It's not clear what Toshiba wants to strengthen."
Okamura has already started sifting through the product range. Toshiba stopped producing CD-ROM disk drives at its Philippines plant in December last year. He shifted production of cathode-ray tube monitors for PCs and televisions from Japan to Thailand and China. The company may build a large-scale factory in China that would make Dynabook laptop PCs and digital consumer electronics.
Okamura also decided to merge Toshiba's LCD business with that of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co to cut development and production costs and compete with South Korean rivals such as Samsung Electronics Ltd.
He's expanding other areas. Toshiba, Sony and International Business Machines Corp said they will together develop processor chips for digital consumer electronics such as DVD players.
Toshiba already makes processor chips for PlayStation 2, dubbed emotion engines, with Sony.
"Okamura's on the right track, but he has to do more," Daiwa's Shibata said.
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