Home PCs are hot sellers even in recession-hit Japan. That is changing. IDC expects sales of home PCs to double to 1.72 million units this year. Fierce competition has brought down prices. Toys 'R' Us and Japanese discounters like Ito Yokado, PCs are not going through Japan's cumbersome and expensive distribution channels.
Manufacturers pass on the savings to consumers.
Sales may be helped even more by the release last month of the Japanese version of Windows 95. The Chinese and Korean versions were also put on sale in November. The Pentium chip and Windows 95 have both been instrumental in opening up the world of PCs to a whole new group of people. Many had expected Windows 95 to unleash a wave of PC buying. Microsoft spent millions to promote the operating system's English version when it was released worldwide in August.