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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Duker who wrote (31296)	7/6/1999 5:32:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Desktop PC Sales Brisk in Japan as LCD Models Become Popular July 6, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Sales of personal computers for the home remain favorable in Japan. According to the figures compiled by GfK Japan Ltd., an information service company handling POS data of 55 companies selling electric household appliances, PC sales in Japan at about 2,000 mass merchandisers of electric household appliances during the first week of June 1999 (June 7-13) showed a 7.0 percent increase over the previous week in units and a 9.5 percent rise in value. It also said that there was a 75.8 percent increase in units and a 74.6 percent increase in value compared with the same week of the preceding year (June 8-14, 1998). The average sales price was 224,504 yen, an increase of 5,088 yen from 219,416 yen during the previous week. (120.86 yen = US$1) Desktop/tower models with liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors filled the shop shelves in the first week of June. Models of this type registered a double-digit increase in sales from the previous week. The average sales price also rose by nearly 10,000 yen over the previous week, topping the 200,000-yen mark. Growth in desktop sales in value exceeded 15 percent compared with the preceding week. On the other hand, the week-on-week growth of notebook PC sales was less than half the growth rate of desktop/tower PCs during these two weeks. Desktop/tower models with LCDs larger than 14.1-in. can be purchased for about 250,000 yen to 270,000 yen, thereby eating at the notebook PC market with a higher price range. Low-priced desktop/tower models with 15-in. CRT monitors and priced around 150,000 yen or lower are seeing favorable sales. GfK Japan collects POS data from 55 IT-related retail sales companies centered 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. Table: PC Sales in the First week of June 1999 (GfK Japan survey) Comparison with the same week a year ago (June 8-14, 1998) Total Desktop PC Notebook PC Week-on-week comparison Year-before weekly comparison Week-on-week comparison Year-before weekly comparison Week-on-week comparison Year-before weekly comparison Volume +7.0% +75.8% +10.0% +82.4% +4.1% +69.7% Value +9.5% +74.6% +15.2% +77.9% +5.1% +72.0% Related story: Average PC Price in Japan in Fifth Week of May Declines (Nikkei Market Access) nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com

To: Duker who wrote (31296)	7/7/1999 12:20:00 AM
From: A. Edwards	Respond to of 70976

Worldwide Semiconductor Sales Rose 12 Percent in May, SIA Says July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Worldwide sales of computer chips rose 12 percent in May from a year ago, led by surging sales in Asia and Japan, an industry trade group said. Sales rose to $11.3 billion in May from $10.1 billion in May 1998, the Semiconductor Industry Association said. Sales climbed less than 1 percent from $11.2 billion in April 1999. Global sales of computer chips are expected to rise 12 percent this year, led by products used in phones and networks as well as the increasing popularity of the Internet. Recovering economies in Asia and Japan are helping buoy industry sales. ''May's global sales numbers are a clear indication of the positive and solid growth of our industry,'' SIA President George Scalise said in a statement. Sales in Asia rose 18 percent from a year ago to $2.77 billion, while sales in Japan surged 15 percent to $2.46 billion, the SIA said. Sales in the Americas region rose 11 percent to $3.64 billion. Sales in Europe were up only 3.2 percent from a year ago to $2.41 billion, and fell 2.8 percent from April 1999.