Electronic dictionary sales keep falling in Japan amid declining birthrates and widespread use of smartphone apps.
After the first domestically made model was launched in 1979, sales of electronic dictionaries expanded thanks to strong demand for the gadgets as gifts for those starting school or entering the workplace. Their shipments in the country reached 2.805 million units in 2007, according to the Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association.
But since then, the market has constantly shrunk. In 2023, domestic shipments totaled 385,000 units, only one-seventh of the peak.
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