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

To: Gottfried who wrote (31707)	8/2/1999 4:49:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

More Bad News: MS Office 2000 Models Push Japan's PC Sales to Record High Level August 2, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Japan's PC sales in the first week of July (July 5-11) reached record high levels in the number of units sold and the value, with both figures about double those of a year earlier. Sales of PCs in the first week of July increased 14.6 percent in units and rose 14.5 percent in value, from a week earlier, according to a survey conducted by GfK Japan Ltd. PC sales rose 107.1 percent in units and they increased 104.3 percent in value, compared with the same week a year earlier (July 6-12, 1998). GfK Japan is an information service company that handles POS data of 55 large discount electric appliance stores. The average retail price declined by 334 yen to 218,186 yen, from the previous week's 218,520 yen. (115.54 yen = US$1) On July 9, so-called "mid-summer models" debuted with Microsoft Office 2000 pre-installed (Microsoft Co., Ltd.'s integrated business software). Japan$B%f(Bs summer sales war appears to have peaked with a sudden jump in retail sales. The number of units sold reached a record level, exceeding that of the peak level of last winter$B%f(Bs sales campaign, which occurred in the first full week of December 1998 (Dec. 7-13). The average retail prices remained almost unchanged. Prices of desktop/tower PCs increased by 2,194 yen from a year earlier, while the prices of notebooks declined by 1,118 yen. Prices of most PCs equipped with Microsoft Office 2000 remained the same as those of "early-summer models," which were equipped with Microsoft Office 97. Meanwhile, prices of the "early-summer models," with Office 97 installed, declined by about 10,000 yen-30,000 yen due to substantial inventories. The average sales price of the "early-summer models" is likely to rise in the following week. 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. Nikkei Market Access provides weekly reports of PC sales in volume and value, in cooperation with GfK Japan. 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. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com

To: Gottfried who wrote (31707)	8/2/1999 4:49:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

More Bad News: MS Office 2000 Models Push Japan's PC Sales to Record High Level August 2, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Japan's PC sales in the first week of July (July 5-11) reached record high levels in the number of units sold and the value, with both figures about double those of a year earlier. Sales of PCs in the first week of July increased 14.6 percent in units and rose 14.5 percent in value, from a week earlier, according to a survey conducted by GfK Japan Ltd. PC sales rose 107.1 percent in units and they increased 104.3 percent in value, compared with the same week a year earlier (July 6-12, 1998). GfK Japan is an information service company that handles POS data of 55 large discount electric appliance stores. The average retail price declined by 334 yen to 218,186 yen, from the previous week's 218,520 yen. (115.54 yen = US$1) On July 9, so-called "mid-summer models" debuted with Microsoft Office 2000 pre-installed (Microsoft Co., Ltd.'s integrated business software). Japan$B%f(Bs summer sales war appears to have peaked with a sudden jump in retail sales. The number of units sold reached a record level, exceeding that of the peak level of last winter$B%f(Bs sales campaign, which occurred in the first full week of December 1998 (Dec. 7-13). The average retail prices remained almost unchanged. Prices of desktop/tower PCs increased by 2,194 yen from a year earlier, while the prices of notebooks declined by 1,118 yen. Prices of most PCs equipped with Microsoft Office 2000 remained the same as those of "early-summer models," which were equipped with Microsoft Office 97. Meanwhile, prices of the "early-summer models," with Office 97 installed, declined by about 10,000 yen-30,000 yen due to substantial inventories. The average sales price of the "early-summer models" is likely to rise in the following week. 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. Nikkei Market Access provides weekly reports of PC sales in volume and value, in cooperation with GfK Japan. 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. nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com

To: Gottfried who wrote (31707)	8/2/1999 11:48:00 PM
From: A. Edwards	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Merrill's morning notes: The Long Coat Tails of the PC Build Merrill Lynch & Co. Mark F. Fitzgerald 2 August, 1999 Reason to report: Semiconductor equipment industry weekly update Investment Highlights: · We expect the group to be volatile through the balance of the summer but reach new highs as we move into the sweet spot of the PC build- October and November. The Fed's interest rate stance looms as the largest near term risk. · Stock prices in the group already reflect strong earnings growth in 2000. But, better than expected, unit PC demand in the 2nd half could tighten DRAM supply and ratchet investment plans higher. Hyundai/LG Semicon is likely back in the market after the October 13 close. · Bell weather Applied Materials release 3Q'99 earnings on August 12 th after the close. The news should be good. Orders are expected in the $1.55 billion range versus $1.39 billion last quarter but not as high as our earlier projection of $1.65 billion.