MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- In all the hype of Apple's new product announcements Wednesday at MacWorld Expo Tokyo 2000, one thing went unnoticed: It was the first time Apple has introduced a new computer outside its home market. That the first occurred here underscores the increasing importance of the Japanese market in the company's rebirth. Despite a sales explosion well into its second year, Apple has been unable to increase its U.S. and worldwide market share beyond 5 percent. In Japan, however, the popular iMac and iBook have bounced the long-languishing up to a 7.8 percent share of the market. That's good for fourth place, though nowhere close to No. 1 NEC. "Apple's market share is definitely coming back in Japan," Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said in his keynote address. "We would like to see it rise even higher in the next few years." The new product is a Special Edition iBook that features a 366 MHz CPU -- compared to 333 MHz for the standard iBook -- and is encased in a two-tone platinum-colored shell. It will retail for 218,000 yen and goes on sale Friday. Jobs also announced an upgrade to the existing iBook, which will be shipped with 64 megabytes of memory and a 6 gigabyte hard drive, twice as much as before. Its retail price remains unchanged at 198,000 yen. Jobs, who founded the computer firm and later realized its comeback from a severe slump, stressed that the new models will equip the company with the strongest product lineup in its history. "(The iBook) has been a huge hit for us," Jobs said during the speech. "It was the No. 1 selling consumer portable here in Japan in the last quarter, and in the U.S." Jobs also stressed the iMac and iBook's ability to attract first-time computer buyers. Among iMac owners worldwide, 30 percent were "newbies," a fact Jobs called "phenomenal." In Japan, the figure is 50 percent.
