Domestic personal computer shipments in the year through March by Japan’s five biggest makers should be lower than a year earlier – the first such decline in five years – according to The Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The falloff is being blamed on poor consumer sales due to a slumping Japanese economy. NEC Corp is looking at a 7% decline to 3.25 million computers. Apple Computer Japan Ltd reports a sharp year-on-year drop for the quarter ended December, after discontinuing the entry-level Performa line in late 1997. Apple expects flat shipments in 1998. Fujitsu Ltd managed to hold shipments roughly flat over the last three months of 1997, but the company expects shipments to fall in the March quarter. IBM Japan Ltd also reported slightly lower shipments in the quarter ended December, but a smaller drop than the industry as a whole. Toshiba Corp’s shipments are nearly unchanged thanks to continued strong demand for notebooks.
