(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| PC Prices Rise After 4 Months of Declines: Nikkei Best PC Survey
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November 30, 1998 (TOKYO) -- The average retail price of personal computers
in October rose after declining for a period of four months, with the
price of desktop/tower types rising 1,829 yen from the previous month
to 257,162 yen (US$2,100) and notebook types rising 5,532 yen to 278,024
yen (US$2,270).
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These are the results of a survey conducted by Nikkei
Best PC, a magazine for PC buyers. The survey was conducted on Oct.
13, and compiled by Nikkei Market Access.
The survey found that the month-to-month increase in the retail price
of desktop type PCs was 0.7 percent, and that of notebook type PCs was
2.0 percent. Although the rises were relatively small, they were the
first increases since June.
In previous years, October was the month when retailers began curtailing
inventory prior to their annual winter sales. Moreover, demand was usually
weak in the month, which depressed retail prices. Against the background
of this trend, retail prices rose slightly this year.
Nikkei Market Access attributes the slight increase to three major factors.
Sony Corp. and IBM Japan Ltd. began marketing their winter models earlier
than usual. Secondly, retailers did not have a massive inventory glut
of summer models and were not forced to sharply cut their retail prices.
And third, overall customer preferences shifted to high-performance
models.
This year, the summer sale began nearly a month later than usual, due
mainly to the release of Windows 98 in late July. After taking advantage
of the delay, manufacturers apparently worked out effective strategies
for their year-end sales. As a result, retailers are faring well, without
suffering any major drops in their sales.
Sales of desktop PCs equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor
are especially brisk. In Tokyo's Akihabara district, which has many
PC and appliance retail outlets, some stores said the LCD-equipped desktop
type accounted for 30 percent of their total sales of desktop PCs.
Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp. are now releasing their winter models. Due
to the strong demand for PCs, a steep decline in the average PC retail
price is unlikely to be seen soon.
Nikkei Best PC conducts the survey on a regular basis, investigating
the retail price of mainstay models at 14 volume PC shops in Tokyo,
Osaka and Nagoya. It publishes the survey every month.
Nikkei Market Access releases in Asia BizTech retail prices of PCs at
large shops surveyed by GfK Japan Ltd. According to the GfK Japan survey,
the
average PC retail price declined until mid-October.
Nikkei Market Access said the gap between the survey results by Nikkei
Best PC and GfK Japan was due to different areas covered by the two
surveys. Nikkei Best PC surveyed large PC shops in big cities whose
main clients are PC enthusiasts who are highly sensitive to prevailing
market trends. Many of the clients purchase top-end models. GfK, on
the other hand, surveyed large shops that sell home electric appliances
across the nation, where buyers are slower to respond to market trends.
Related stories:
Japan's PC Sales Brisk in Third Week of October
PC Sales Brisk in 4th Week of October; Average Sales Price Rises
Average PC Price in Sept. Remains Stable: Nikkei Best PC Survey
(Nikkei
Market Access)
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