Excuse me for butting in here with this news of Japan's PC shipments. jajaja
Thursday November 9, 4:26 am Eastern Time
Japan PC shipments hit record high in
first half
(UPDATE: Recasts, adds PC makers' share prices)
By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Japanese were avid buyers of personal computers in the latest half year,
boosting domestic PC shipments to record levels despite sluggish consumer spending in the economy
overall, an industry body said on Thursday.
PC shipments rose 28 percent in the April-September period from a year earlier to 5.63 million units,
buoyed by solid demand from both companies and ordinary consumers, the Japan Electronics and
Information Technology Industries Association said.
The group, comprising 17 major PC makers operating in Japan, also raised its shipment forecast for the
full year to next March to 12 million units -- a 21 percent jump from the year before -- compared with its
previous forecast of 11.5 million. The more bullish view reflected the first half's better-than-expected
results especially in companies' replacement demand, it said.
With more Japanese using e-mail and surfing the Internet, retail purchases have surged by nearly 50
percent in the past half-year, while a modest recovery in the economy and capital spending on
information technology have boosted corporate buying by over 10 percent, an association official said.
``Not only is the number of households using PCs rising but so is the number of people per household
using a PC,'' said Yuzo Nagano, personal system operation manager at the Japanese unit of
International Business Machines Corp (NYSE:IBM - news).
``Demand for PCs carrying audio and video functions will remain strong next year, although PCs will
face some competition from other Internet-capable applications such as mobile phones and PDAs
(personal digital assistants),'' he added.
Quarterly data showed shipments rose 23 percent year-on-year in July-September to 2.9 million units, a
modest slowdown from the previous quarter's torrid pace of 35 percent growth.
In value terms, domestic shipments of PCs and peripheral equipment totalled 660 billion yen ($6.16
billion) in July-September, up 11 percent from a year earlier.
MORE GROWTH EXPECTED
``The (July-September) figure is a touch lower than we had expected but it continued to mark
double-digit increases and we can call this growth quite favourable,'' said Hitoshi Kuriyama, a senior
analyst at Merrill Lynch.
With only 40 percent of Japanese households owning PCs, against 70 to 80 percent in the United
States, shipments in Japan will likely continue rising at least another three to five years, particularly with
the government focused on promoting the spread of information technology, he said.
``Unit growth in PC shipments in Japan was driven by the corporate sector until the middle of 1999, but
the figure for households has room for further growth,'' he added.
The association predicted that domestic PC shipments would rise over 10 percent in the business year
to March 2002.
A recent survey by MultiMedia Research Institute, a private research firm, showed Japanese electronics
giant NEC Corp held the biggest share of the domestic PC market with 25.9 percent, followed by 20.0
percent for Fujitsu Ltd and 9.8 percent for IBM Japan.
The solid Japanese data coincides with mounting fears of a possible slowdown in growth in the U.S. PC
market.
On Wednesday, IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Louis Gerstner reiterated that the world's
largest computer maker could generate sales growth in the high-single digits -- a step down from
statements he made last year looking for 10 percent sales growth or better.
But Yutaka Nakai, executive officer of investment strategy at Daiwa Asset Management, said there is
little need for pessimism in Japan.
``We may enter a period of over-supply, since demand is surging so rapidly, but that's likely be a
temporary phase. Information technology growth is so far behind the U.S. it will take years before the
market gets to the point of really slowing down.''
Shares in NEC closed on Thursday down 2.14 percent at 2,290 yen while Fujitsu shares fell 5.09
percent to close at 2,050 yen, losing ground along with other tech issues after a steep fall in their U.S.
counterparts.
(Additional reporting by Hiroko Nakata, Ritsuko Ando) |
