PC Summer Sales Weaken in Japan in Fourth Week of June
July 28, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Personal computer sales in Japan during the 1999 summer season slowed down.
According to the figures collected by GfK Japan Ltd. which monitors POS data at large appliance shops, PC sales at 2,000 shops during the fourth week of June (June 28 to July 4, 1999) increased 3.8 percent in the number of units sold and 3.2 percent in value from the previous week. Year-on-year sales rose 78.4 percent in units and 74.4 percent in value. These figures all fell below the levels recorded in the previous surveyed week (June 21-27, 1999).
The average sales price was down 1,262 yen to 218,520 yen from the previous week's 219,782 yen. (115.77 yen = US$1)
Sales of desktop/tower PCs decreased in value due to a short supply for high-priced LCD models and 17-in. CRT models. The average sales price for these products was also down by 3,462 yen. Notebooks also declined by 913 yen, and 14.1-in. LCD models are short in supply.
New models with Microsoft Office 2000 pre-installed were scheduled to be in shops in the following week of the survey period (the first week of July). This will probably push up sales, though not to the extent of the explosive buying spree observed last year when Windows 98 was launched.
GfK Japan collects POS data from 55 IT-related retail sales companies centering on high-volume stores specializing in home electric appliances. It covers about 3,200 stores (as of April 1998) throughout Japan.
In cooperation with GfK Japan, Nikkei Market Access provides weekly reports of PC sales in volume and value.
The sales data has been based on the same 41 companies (with about 2,000 stores) since April 1996.
The number of PCs sold at the 2,000 stores is estimated to comprise about 10 percent of gross domestic shipments, and when limiting the sales to retail sales channel, the share comes to about 25 percent of such shipments.
The following graphs are at the Nikkei Market Access Web site in Japanese only:
- Trends in the number of (all types of) PCs sold in a week.
- Trends in the sales amount (in money) of (all types of) PCs in a week.
- Trends in the average sales price of (all types of) PCs sold in a week.
- Trends in the number of desktop PCs sold in a week.
- Trends in the sales amount of desktop PCs in a week.
- Trends in the average sales price of desktop PCs in a week.
- Trends in the number of notebook PCs sold in a week.
- Trends in the sales amount of notebook PCs in a week.
- Trends in the average sales price of notebook-size PCs in a week.
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com |
