... but JAPAN's IT goes up (and up and up?) And Softbank will expand here and elsewhere in faster-than-US-growing Asia. I continue to hold my little parcel (cashed-out though I am in all other US-focussed things...)
Tuesday, March 6, 2001
ANALYSIS: Japan IT Market Stays Strong
Despite U.S. Slowdown
TOKYO (Nikkei)--The market for personal computers in Japan
remains solid and even shows potential for growth despite the
recent sluggishness of sales in the U.S., the world's largest
computer market.
However, slowing in the U.S. and the consequent dip in chip prices
have affected sales and profit, and Toshiba Corp. (6502),
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (6752), NEC Corp. (6701) and
Fujitsu, Ltd. (6702) have all announced downward revisions in
performance projections.
But the market in Japan is very different from that in the U.S.
Although the U.S. market has shown almost zero growth so far this
year, in Japan, computer shipments in 2000 were 25% greater than
in 1999. Due to "continued growth in purchases by first-time users,"
the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries
Association projects roughly 15% year-on-year market growth for
2001.
The Japanese market also has considerable potential. While the
number of households with Internet access is about to plateau in
the U.S. at 54% in 2001, it is only just over 36% here and is
expected to reach 60% in 2003.
While IT investment by U.S. corporations seems to have hit a
ceiling, Japanese companies have a great deal left to do. In 2000,
54,466 UNIX servers were shipped in Japan, up 49.5% year-on-year,
and the figure is projected to grow another 26% in 2001.
The most notable difference is that the Japanese computer market
is branching out in a new direction and working on digital
equipment, while U.S. computers have apparently completed their
functional evolution.
NEC has withdrawn from the consumer computer market in the
U.S., which President Koji Nishigaki calls "crazy." "Excessive
price-cutting has made it impossible to make a profit there," he
said.
Concerning ultra-thin notebook computers with digital video
capability and other new types of computers in Japan, former
president Jeffrey Weitzen of Gateway Inc. said that Japan is the
most promising market because completely different kinds of
computers are being made.
Digital audio-visual equipment for computers is a steadily growing
market. Digital-camera shipments doubled to 10.34 million in 2000
from the year before, and are projected to grow by 43.1% in 2001 to
14.80 million. The world market for digital video-cameras, which
Japan dominates, is expected to grow 22% to 5.92 million units this
year.
It comes as no surprise that U.S. companies are interested in this
market. Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs notes that Japanese
audio-visual computers are already shifting into a new growth phase
and becoming digital hubs, while U.S. users are fed up with
computers becoming a commodity where only price matters.
President Toshiaki Ikoma of Texas Instruments Japan Ltd. is
determined to support the struggling U.S. parent with chips for
popular equipment like cellular phones and digital cameras, a field
in which Japan leads.
The Japanese subsidiary of Dell Computer Corp., which appears to
have marked 40% year-on-year sales growth for fiscal 2000, sees
the Japanese market as "top priority," and will hire about 300
people this year, while the U.S. parent plans personnel cuts.
-- Translated from an article written by Takeshi Matsui, Nikkei staff
writer.
(The Nikkei Industrial Daily Tuesday edition) |
