(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Japan's Desktop PC Sales Decline in 2nd Week of January
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February 8, 1999 (TOKYO) -- The average sales price of desktop personal
computers declined in the second week of January, as compared with a
week earlier.
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According to GfK Japan Ltd., PC sales at about
2,000 stores in the second week of January (Jan. 11-17, 1999) dropped
14.7 percent in number and fell 17.0 percent in value from the previous
week. (See table.)
However, in comparison with the same week a year ago (Jan. 12-18, 1998),
PC sales surged 89.7 percent in number and increased 78.0 percent in
value.
GfK Japan is an information service company handling point-of-sales data
for large stores that sell home electric appliances.
The average sales price dropped 6,047 yen (US$50) from the previous week's
level of 224,030 yen (US$2,000) to 217,983 yen (US$1,945).
GfK Japan said that the average price of desktop PCs fell 7,240 yen (US$65)
from the previous week to 196,260 yen (US$1,750), registering the lowest
figure since the survey started in 1996.
The previous lowest price was 199,637 yen (US$1,780), which was registered
in the third week of October 1998.
In terms of number of PCs sold, a declining trend continued from the
first week of January.
Manufacturers no longer have excess inventories, and Nikkei Market Access
had expected that many products would be out of stock in January, the
time for switching to the new spring models.
Because the new models scheduled to go on sale in February are already
becoming available, PC sales at high-volume stores are expected to drop
temporarily.
GfK Japan collects POS data for 55 IT-related retail sales companies
centering on high-volume stores that sell home electric appliances throughout
Japan, covering about 3,200 stores (as of April 1998).
Nikkei Market Access provides weekly reports on PC sales in number and
value, in cooperation with GfK Japan.
The volume and value of sales are based on the data obtained from 41
companies (with about 2,000 stores). The same companies have been used
since April 1996, to enable an accurate comparison over time.
The number of PCs sold at these 2,000 stores is estimated to comprise
about 10 percent of gross domestic shipments, or about 25 percent of
shipments to retail stores.
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 second week of January 1999 (GfK Japan survey)
Comparison with the same week a year ago (Jan. 12 through Jan. 18, 1998). |
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(return to news)
Related story: PC
Sales in 1st Week of Jan. Rise Sharply from Year Earlier
(Nikkei
Market Access)
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