(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Personal Computers with Windows 98 Enjoy Brisk Sales
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August 19, 1998 (TOKYO) -- The Japanese version of Windows 98 has been
selling at a brisk pace since it was introduced on July 25, and some
stores are even complaining about low supplies of the standard version.
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Personal computers pre-installed with Windows 98 are enjoying good sales,
and some large PC shops are posting double-digit year-on-year gains
in PC sales.
Sales of the upgrade version of Windows 98 accounted for about 90 percent
of the total, and the standard version accounted for about 10 percent.
The figures match the percentages of shipments of the two versions by
Microsoft Co., Ltd. of Japan. The standard version is in short supply,
and many shops have customer waiting lists.
A major reason for the short supply is that some users with Windows 95
prefer to buy the standard version because it is easier to install than
the upgrade version, according to officials at large PC shops.
Sales of "Plus!98," a suite of software for enhanced functions, are as
robust as sales of Windows 98. "In many cases, users who received a
free upgrade from PC makers purchase Plus!98 alone," said an official
at T. ZONE Minami, a major PC shop.
New PCs pre-installed with Windows 98 are also selling well. Helped by
the brisk sales, Laox The Computer Kan, a major PC shop in Akihabara,
Tokyo, posted a 20-percent year-on-year gain in unit sales in the first
half of August. T. ZONE Minami enjoyed similar sales. Joshin Denki Co.,
Ltd. which is based in Nipponbashi, Osaka, has been posting double-digit
year-on-year gains in unit sales at its shops that have operated for
more than a year.
The most popular PCs equipped with Windows 98 are made by NEC Corp. Of
the company's desktop PCs, those in short supply are NEC's ValueStar
NX VC series, which have liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, and
the ValueStar VE series comprising space-saving, low-priced models.
Of NEC's notebook PCs, LaVieNX LW23, which has a large 13.3-in. thin-film
transistor-LCD, is in short supply. NEC attributes the short supply
to its low projection of demand for Windows 98. To deal with the strong
demand, NEC has moved up its production schedule by operating its plants
even on holidays.
Other popular models are the all-in-one notebook-type FMV-BIBLO NE series
produced by Fujitsu Ltd., Mebius Notebook PC-PJ1, a thin, B5-size PC
produced by Sharp Corp., and Sony Corp.'s notebook-type VAIO PCG-800
series equipped with the Pentium II microprocessor. Amid the short supply
of these models, PC shops are competing to secure the products.
"Thanks to the great popularity of Windows 98, strong PC sales are expected
to continue until the end of August," said an official at Laox The Computer
Kan.
This view is generally shared by other PC shop operators.
Related story:
Japan
Windows 98 Sales Hit 330,000 Copies in Nine Days
(Nikkei Personal Computing)
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