News Re. PC, Chk. it out.
China's computer industry moves forward despite financial crisis
BEIJING (December 3, 1997 02:23 a.m. EST nando.net) - China's personal computer business is charging ahead despite the regional financial crisis rocking other Asian makers, the official China Daily reported Wednesday.
"From what we have found out from the financial crisis in Southeast Asia, we don't expect much of a harmful influence on our PC industry,"
Chen Chong, vice director of the Electronic Industry Ministry's department of computer and information technology advancement, was quoted as saying.
"It goes without saying that at least 3 million PCs will be sold in the Chinese market this year," he said.
Total sales in China last year totaled just 1.8 million, with domestically made PCs taking a 56 percent share of the market.
The newspaper cited a report from U.S. market-research firm Dataquest as saying China had the fastest sales growth in the Asia-Pacific region during the third quarter, accounting for 27 percent of regional sales.
China's domestic immunity to the financial crisis -- a product of its non-convertible currency -- has allowed PC demand within the country to grow unfettered, said Dataquest analyst Cherry Velarde.
Chen conceded that the yuan's relative strength against battered currencies around the region will hurt the competitiveness of China's nascent PC exports.
But the country shipped just 156,000 PCs overseas in the first half, compared to domestic sales of 1.4 million.
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