Japanese manufacturers are particularly disappointed at the slow-down in the personal computer market that started towards the end of last year, because the first half figures – January to June – showed a 30%-plus expansion: the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association reports that total shipments in the first half topped 774,000 units, a 34% increase over the same period last year; the lack of anything other than games on 8-bit machines meant that only 63,000 were sold, a 30% decline on the year-earlier period, but 16-bit machines saw a 26% increase to 559,900 units, and sales of 32-bit machines grew 3.6-fold to 152,000 machines; with regard to price, the $1,420 to $2,840 sector saw a 55% increase, the $2,840 to $7,100 sector rose 37% and the $7,100 to $14,200 sector saw a 42% increase; those over $15,000 rose 32%; machines with 40Mb hard disks did much better than those with 20Mb ones, and note-book-sized computers cut a swathe through sales of standard laptops with no special features; by value, because of emphasis on big machines, the market rose 40% to $1,560m.
