Hot Summer Cools Down PC Sales
August 13, 2001 (TOKYO) -- Japan's PC sales in the fourth week of July were expected to improve, spurred by new models from NEC Corp.
The new models were introduced in line with the period of three straight holidays of that week (July 20-22). However, even with those encouraging factors, PC sales were still slow.
These findings are from a survey conducted by GfK Marketing Services Japan Ltd., an information service company that collects POS data from 3,400 large-volume home appliance stores.
The PC sales in the fourth week of July (July 16-22, 2001) showed a 4.2-percent decrease in units and a 3.9-percent decrease in value from the previous week. Compared to the fourth week of July 2000 (July 17-23, 2000), sales decreased 9.1 percent in units and 13.3 percent in value. The average unit sales price for the fourth week was 182,819 yen, up by 652 yen from the previous week's 182,167 yen.
According to retailers' analysis, stagnant PC sales were partly due to the spell of very hot weather, which means consumers purchased air conditioners rather than a PC. A household expenses survey conducted by the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications showed a three-month consecutive decline in consumption expenditures compared with the same period a year earlier. In such a tight householders' consumption mood, hot weather spurred the downward trend of PC sales.
According to GfK Japan, air conditioner sales were brisk in the period between the first week and the third week of July, when most companies supplied summer bonuses to their employees. Sales increased by over 40 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, despite the nationwide hot weather, air conditioner sales for the fourth week were down 15 percent in units from a year earlier.
Table: PC Sales in the Foruth Week of July 2001 (GfK Japan survey) Comparison with the same week a year ago (July 17-23, 2000)
Total
Desktop PC
Notebook PC
Week-on-week comparison
Year-before weekly comparison
Week-on-week comparison
Year-before weekly comparison
Week-on-week comparison
Year-before weekly comparison
Volume
-4.2%
-9.1%
-4.1%
-22.7%
-4.3%
+5.0%
Value
-3.9%
-13.3%
-3.9%
-18.6%
-3.9%
-9.1%
Previous report: Desktop PC Sales Decline for Second Straight Week
(Shinya Sakaki, Nikkei Market Access) |
