Japan's personal computer market down 7% in FY '91

Electronic News, May 11, 1992 by Lori Valigra

TOKYO -- Japan's market for personal computers buckled under a soft economy last year, seeing its first decline in value since 1980. Shipments of personal computers and related products totaled 1,172.9 billion yen (U.S. $9 billion) in fiscal 1991 ended March 31, 1992, down 7 percent from last year, according to figures released recently by the Japan Electronic Industrial Development Association (JEIDA). This was the first annual drop since JEIDA started surveying the PC market in fiscal 1980.

Another JEIDA survey, compiled from quarterly figures, made news during the last three months of calendar 1991, when the market took a surprising 17 percent plunge in value. Shipments in the October-December quarter fell to 245.5 billion yen ($1.9 billion), JEIDA said. Domestic shipments fell 17 percent as well to 176.8 billion yen ($1.4 billion).

JEIDA attributed the fall to sluggish economies in consuming markets. The figures represented the first quarterly slide for both total and domestic shipment value since the industry organization started compiling the statistics. When those quarterly figures were released in February, JEIDA had predicted the yearly figures would fall, too. Along with slack demand, Japanese inventories have swollen, causing personal computer manufacturers to hold back output.

The association said the yearly decline reflected a slowdown of the domestic economy and soft exports. The association, however, expects a 5 percent annual rise in shipments this fiscal year, which began on April 1. It said that shipments already showed an improvement in the January to March, 1992, quarter over the same period last year.

Shipments of personal computers, not including related components, dropped 6 percent on a revenue basis to 646.2 billion yen ($4.97 billion) and were down 13 percent on a unit basis to 2.31 million. Following the trend toward down-sizing that has become popular in Japan over the past few years, notebook-size models accounted for 85 percent of portable computer shipments, up 15 percent over last year.

Shipments of 32-bit personal computers rose 81 percent, but 16-bit and 8-bit models fell 62 percent and 54 percent.

Domestic shipments were worth 897.5 billion yen ($6.9 billion), down 3 percent. Shipments fell 17 percent in the October-December quarter last year, but fell a comparatively low 3 percent in January-March this year, JEIDA said. That improvement was attributed to year-end demand and the introduction of new models.