Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (37497)	9/27/2000 10:04:39 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Japan's PC Sales for Jan.-Aug. 2000 Surpass Full-Year 1999 Sales September 27, 2000 (TOKYO) -- Japan's sales of PCs from January to August this year increased 67.7 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to Nikkei Market Access. The country's unit-based PC sales in August rose 38.6 percent from the same month in 1999, and fell 21.1 percent from the previous month. The average retail PC price in August was 188,654 yen, down 3,895 yen from July. These figures are based on the point-of-sales (POS) data collected by GfK Japan Ltd., an information service company that handles the POS data from about 3,200 volume shops of home electric appliances in Japan. The total PC sales for the January-August period exceeded the full-year 1999 sales by 4.4 percent on a unit basis. Last year, it was in September, one month later than this year, that the combined monthly PC sales topped the previous year's annual sales. However, the monthly PC sales for August fell 21.1 percent from July. Although, last year PC sales in August declined from those in July (the peak month of the summer sales campaign), this year's decline was larger than that of the previous year. In 1999, the PC sales for August posted a month-to-month decline of 17.4 percent. The year-on-year increase rate of the unit-base PC sales was 45.1 percent in July, but shrank to 38.6 percent in August. This was the smallest increase since December 1999, when PC sales posted a year-on-year increase of 31.9 percent. Consumers refrained from buying PCs in that month, due to concerns over the Y2K problem. This time, one of the reasons for the decline in the year-on-year increase rate was that consumers were informed of the release of the Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) on Sept. 22, and waited for new PCs equipped with Windows Me to reach the market. The average PC retail price for August dropped below 190,000 yen, to the level of 180,000 yen. The reason for the decline is that the average retail price of notebook PCs dropped to the level of 210,000 yen for the first time ever. Also, the price of desktop PCs dropped to a level close to a record low price, which was registered in May 2000. (106.63 yen = US$1) GfK Japan Ltd. collects the POS data from some 3,200 shops (as of April 1998), mainly large-scale electric home appliance retailers. Nikkei Market Access reports PC sales in terms of units and value on a weekly and monthly basis, with the information coming from GfK Japan. Sales of these 3,200 shops reach nearly 20 percent of all PC shipments in Japan, and they comprise some 40 percent of the total sales in stores. Data are provided by GfK Japan Ltd. and compiled by Nikkei Market Access. A base index of 100 is set at the average unit-based monthly sales in the April 1998 - March 1999 period. Previous report: Japan's PC Retail Sales in July Grow by 14 Pct. (Nikkei Market Access)