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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (45270)	4/9/2001 8:37:30 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 70976

Japanese PC makers expect slower growth TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's domestic PC shipments are expected to grow 13 percent in the business year that started on April 1, a marked slowdown from the previous year's 20 percent gain, an industry group said on Friday. With feeble consumer sentiment and corporate investment hitting PC sales, analysts said Japan's major personal computer makers are looking to focus on more profitable products such as personal digital assistants (PDAs). ``By introducing new devices, they're looking to boost their revenue and make up for the expected decline in PC revenue,'' said Yoshihide Otake, an analyst at Tsubasa Securities. Bolstered by strong growth in Internet use, domestic PC shipments in the last business year grew to an estimated 12 million units, up 20.7 percent from the previous year, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said. Although Japan's PC market still has plenty of room to grow, with the penetration rate still low at about 45 percent of households compared with 60 percent in the United States, shipments this year are expected to grow a more modest 13.3 percent to 13.6 million. SHIFTING TO HANDHELD, PORTABLE PCs A Toshiba Corp spokeswoman said her company expects sluggish PC growth in Japan because of slow consumer spending and shrinking corporate capital outlays, but still wanted to outperform the overall market. NEC Corp, Japan's largest PC vendor, also said it hopes to achieve double-digit growth while number-two Fujitsu Ltd said it projects about 10 percent growth this year. NEC said it plans to introduce Net-capable handheld PCs for corporate clients as early as this autumn. ``There are various needs in the market and we would like to try to meet those needs as much as possible,'' an NEC spokeswoman said. Similarly, Toshiba said in February it would move into the growing market for PDAs. Satoru Oyama, an analyst at ABN Amro securities, said notebook PCs are also likely be a driver of growth this year. ``I believe the prices for notebook PCs will likely come down and that would provide a boost,'' he said. Analysts also noted, however, that competition is intensifying in Japan's PC market. Sony Corp in particular has muscled its way into the market with its popular VAIO line of personal computers. In calendar 2000, Sony boosted its market share by two percentage points to 8.8 percent, displacing Toshiba as Japan's fourth largest PC vendor, while market leader NEC's share shrank to 21.7 percent from 22.1 and Fujitsu's dipped to 20.4 percent from 20.7, according to private research firm IDC Japan.