JEIDA Raises FY99 PC Shipment Forecast in Japan to Over 9 Million
November 10, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Domestic shipments of personal computers totaled 2.359 million units in the second quarter (July-September) of fiscal 1999, up 31 percent from a year ago, the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA) announced Nov. 9.
It was the third consecutive quarter for the figure to be above 2 million and puts cumulative shipments for the first half at a record 4.391 million units, up 34 percent year on year. With shipments running so strong, JEIDA has upped its estimate for the full year to over 9 million units, or 19 percent growth, from the initial forecast of over 8 million units.
The value of second-quarter shipments was 478.5 billion yen, up 22 percent and the highest figure on record for a second quarter. Shipments in the first half were worth 907.3 billion yen, up 25 percent. But the association forecasts little change in the value of shipments for the year as a whole because unit prices are declining for both desktop and notebook PCs.
In the second quarter, the average shipment price for desktop PCs was 221,000 yen, down from 224,000 yen in the first quarter. The average price for notebooks fell to 186,000 yen, from 199,000 yen. Both averages are the lowest on record. The combined average shipment price was 203,000 yen, down from 211,000 yen. The association sees prices dropping another 5 percent in the latter half of the year to below 200,000 yen.
According to JEIDA, one reason PC shipments in the first half were stronger than expected was because consumer demand continued strong into the current year, thanks partly to the rising number of women buyers. Corporate demand is also bouncing back due to the economic recovery and replacement buying to counter the Year 2000 problem. Shipment volume for the personal consumer market rose around 60 percent, accounting for about 40 percent of overall shipments. Shipments to corporate buyers went up 20 percent.
The JEIDA statistics are based on figures collected from 19 companies. They are. Apple Japan Inc., NEC Corp., Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., Casio Computer Co., Ltd., Canon Inc., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corp., Seiko Epson Corp., Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp., Toshiba Personal Computer System Corp., IBM Japan Ltd., Gateway Japan Inc., Hewlett-Packard Japan Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., PFU Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. Together, these companies supply around 90 percent of Japan's PC market. Industry observers say total PC shipments for fiscal 1999 will exceed 10 million units when those by other companies, such as Sotec Co., Ltd. and Dell Computer KK, are included.
(106.14 yen = US$1)
(BizTech News Dept.)
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