PC Unit Sales Edge Up 0.9 Pct. in Fifth Week of November
December 27, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Personal computer unit sales in Japan's retail market edged up slightly during the fifth week of November 1999 over the prior week, but the general market tone remained brisk.
An all-time high sales record is expected the following week as the retailers brace for the peak bonus season.
According to Gfk Japan Ltd., an information service company handling POS data of 55 household electric appliance retail stores, PC sales in the fifth week of November (Nov. 29 - Dec. 5, 1999) increased 0.9 percent in units, but dropped 1.5 percent in value compared with the previous week.
Compared to the same week a year ago (Nov. 30 - Dec. 6, 1998), however, PC sales surged 25.5 percent in units and 8.5 percent in value.
The average PC retail price dropped 4,839 yen to 198,804 yen from the previous week's 203,643 yen. (102.26 yen = US$1)
This was the first drop in six weeks to the 190,000 yen level in the average retail price. It was affected largely by the full-scale sale of the "M350V," a price-leader model marketed by Sotec Co., Ltd. for less than 100,000 yen.
The average retail price of a desktop/tower model was 168,672 yen, the second-lowest level after the 166,021 yen marked in the third week of September 1999, when low-priced fall models were on hand.
Notebook PCs retailed for 233,795 yen, about the same as the third week of November.
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.
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