PC shipments fell 1% in 1997; domestic forecast revised

Total shipments of personal computers by Japan's 23 major personal computer makers dropped 1 percent to 8.28 million units in 1997, an industry group said Tuesday.

Reflecting a sluggish economy at home, the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association also revised downward its forecast for domestic PC shipments through the 1997 business year to March 31.

According to the JEIDA, domestic PC shipments for the same period are likely to decline to 6.7 million units from an earlier forecast of 7.5 million units. The new estimate represents a 7 percent drop from the 1996 business year. It is the second time during the current business year that the industry group has lowered its projections.

"Partially due to the reluctance of financial institutions to make loans to companies, many firms are postponing plans to install new computers," said Toshiba Corp. Vice President Tetsuya Mizoguchi, who is chairman of JEIDA's PC business committee. For calendar 1997, domestic shipments of personal computers posted a slight increase of 3 percent from the previous year to 7.04 million units, according to the report. The total value of domestic PC shipments in 1997 was 2.136 trillion yen, up 1 percent from the previous year.

During 1997, domestic shipments of portable PCs reached 2.994 million units, marking a sharp increase of 38 percent, while those of desktop machines dropped 13 percent to 4.048 million units, the JEIDA said. Meanwhile, PC exports reached 1.236 million units, down 22 percent from the previous year. But the total value of exported PCs rose 17 percent from 1996 to 703.3 billion yen.

The association also announced that total PC shipments including domestic sales and exports for the October-December quarter declined 2 percent to 1.95 million units from the same period last year. Also, domestic sales for the same quarter declined 7 percent to 1.597 million units, it said.