(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| iMac Stimulates Japan PC Sales in 4th Week of August
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September 21, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Personal computer sales in Japan in the
fourth week of August (Aug. 24-30) were active due to the popularity
of Apple Computer Inc.'s iMacs, launched Aug. 29.
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According to data aggregated by GfK Japan Ltd.,
an information service company which deals with POS data of electric
appliances mass marketing retailers, PC sales in the fourth week of
August at their retail shops of about 2,000 was up 25.1 percent from
the previous week in terms of unit, and up 20.8 percent from the same
week in terms of value (See table).
The unit-based sales were up 44.0 percent from the fourth week of August
a year ago (Aug. 25-31, 1997), and the value-based figure was up 35.4
percent. The average sales price of PCs was 225,646 yen (US$1,710),
down 8,145 yen from 233,791 yen (US$1,770) the previous week.
As for iMac sales, there is a shop that reportedly sold a record high
number. It was a main factor that boosted PC sales for the said period,
following the launch of Windows 98.
However, squeezed by record-high sales of desktop PCs, the share of notebook
PCs to that of desktops fell below 50 percent for the first time in
14 weeks. As the iMac was priced at a low of 178,000 yen (US$1,350),
the average sales price of desktop PCs was also pushed down by more
than 10,000 yen (US$75).
The data GfK Japan released are from about 2,000 outlets of 41 firms.
GfK Japan picked the 41 first in 1996 and has been releasing their data
since then.
GfK Japan covers a far greater number of outlets with combined unit-base
sales accounting for about 10 percent of total domestic PC shipments
and about 25 percent of total retail sales.
The following graphs are at Nikkei
Market Access 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 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 fourth week of August 1998 (Source: Gfk Japan)
"Year-before weekly comparison" means the comparison with the week from
Aug. 25 to 31, 1997. |
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(return to news)
Related stories:
Popular iMac Computers Sell Out Upon Arrival in
Japan
Apple Japan Enjoys Large Demand for iMac PCs
Japan PC Sales Plunge in 3rd Week of August
(Nikkei Market Access)
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