So Sweet!
Posted on 11/04/2007 5:27:02 AM PST by decimon
TOKYO - Masaya Igarashi wants $200 headphones for his new iPod Touch, and he's torn between Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 game consoles. When he has saved up again, he plans to splurge on a digital camera or flat-screen TV. There's one conspicuous omission from the college student's shopping list: a new computer.
The PC's role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as its once-awesome monopoly on processing power is encroached by gadgets such as smart phones that act like pocket-size computers, advanced Internet-connected game consoles, digital video recorders with terabytes of memory.
"A new PC just isn't high on my priority list right now," said Igarashi, shopping at a Bic Camera electronics shop in central Tokyo, who said his three-year-old desktop was "good for now."
"For the cost, I'd rather buy something else," he said.
Japan's PC market is already shrinking, leading analysts to wonder whether Japan will become the first major market to see a decline in personal computer use some 25 years after it revolutionized household electronics - and whether this could be the picture of things to come in other countries.
"The household PC market is losing momentum to other electronics like flat-panel TVs and mobile phones," said Masahiro Katayama, research group head at market survey firm IDC.
Overall PC shipments in Japan have fallen for five consecutive quarters, the first ever drawn-out decline in PC sales in a key market, according to IDC. The trend shows no signs of letting up: In the second quarter of 2007, desktops fell 4.8 percent and laptops 3.1 percent.
NEC's and Sony's sales have been falling since 2006 in Japan. Hitachi Ltd. said Oct. 22 it will pull out of the household computer business entirely in an effort to refocus its sprawling operations.
"Consumers aren't impressed anymore with bigger hard drives or faster processors. That's not as exciting as a bigger TV," Katayama said. "And in Japan, kids now grow up using mobile phones, not PCs. The future of PCs isn't bright."
PC makers beg to differ, and they're aggressively marketing their products in the countries where they're seeing the most sales growth - places where residents have never had a PC. The industry is responding in two other ways: reminding detractors that computers are still essential in linking the digital universe and releasing several laptops priced below $300 this holiday shopping season.
And, though sales in the U.S. are slowing too, booming demand in the developing world is expected to buoy worldwide PC shipments 11 percent to an all-time high of 286 million in 2007. And, outside Japan, Asia is a key growth area, with second-quarter sales jumping 21.9 percent this year.
Hitachi had already stopped making PCs for individual consumers since releasing this year's summer models, although the Tokyo-based manufacturer will keep making some computers for corporate clients. Personal computers already accounted for less than 1 percent of Hitachi's annual sales.
It's clear why consumers are shunning PCs.
Millions download music directly to their mobile devices, and many more use their handsets for online shopping and to play games. Digital cameras connect directly to printers and high-definition TVs for viewing photos, bypassing PCs altogether. Movies now download straight to TVs.
More than 50 percent of Japanese send e-mail and browse the Internet from their mobile phones, according to a 2006 survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The same survey found that 30 percent of people with e-mail on their phones used PC-based e-mail less, including 4 percent who said they had stopped sending e-mails from PCs completely.
The fastest growing social networking site here, Mobagay Town, is designed exclusively for cell phones. Other networking sites like mixi, Facebook and MySpace can all be accessed and updated from handsets, as can the video-sharing site YouTube.
And while a lot of the decline is in household PCs, businesses are also waiting longer to replace their computers partly because recent advances in PC technology are only incremental, analysts say.
At a consumer electronics event in Tokyo in October, the mostly unpopular stalls showcasing new PCs contrasted sharply with the crowded displays of flat-panel TVs.
"There's no denying PCs are losing their spunk in Japanese consumers' eyes," said Hiroyuki Ishii, a sales official at Japan's top PC maker, NEC Corp. "There seems to be less and less things only a PC can do," Ishii said. "The PC's value will fade unless the PC can offer some breakthrough functions."
The slide has made PC manufacturers desperate to maintain their presence in Japanese homes. Recent desktop PCs look more like audiovisual equipment - or even colorful art objects - than computers.
Sony Corp.'s desktop computers have folded up to become clocks, and its latest version even hangs on the wall. Laptops in a new Sony line are adorned with illustrations from hip designers like ZAnPon. NEC is trying to make its PCs' cooling fans quieter - to address a common complaint from customers, it says.
Still, sluggish sales weigh on manufacturers.
NEC's annual PC shipments in Japan shrank 6.2 percent to 2.72 million units in 2006, though overall earnings have been buoyed by mobile phone and networking solutions operations. The trend continued in the first quarter of fiscal 2007 when there was a 14 percent decline from a year earlier.
Sony's PC shipments for Japan shrank 10 percent in 2006 from a year earlier. But it isn't about to throw in the towel - yet.
"We feel we've reached a new stage in PC development, where consumers are looking for user-friendly machines to complement other electronics," said Hiroko Nakamura, a Sony official in Tokyo.
Sony's latest PCs, for example, come with a powerful program that can take photos and video clips and automatically edit them into a slideshow set to music.
Even Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc., whose computer sales and market share are surging in the U.S., has seen Macintosh unit sales in Japan slip 5 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2007.
There are other reasons Japan is the first market to see PCs shrink, some analysts say.
"We think of Japanese as workaholics, but many don't take work home," said Damian Thong, a technology analyst at Macquarie Bank in Japan. "Once they leave the office, they're often content with tapping e-mails or downloading music on their phones," he said.
As Hitachi's shuttering of its household PC business demonstrates, making PCs has become less attractive. IBM Corp. also left the PC business in 2005, selling its computer unit to China's Lenovo Group Ltd.
But NEC's Ishii is persisting.
"We have to get the message out there that PCs are on top in terms of computing power," he said. "They always will be."
Slapping the latest Microsoft spaghetti code on it will make it slower than ever.
APPLE! MAC! IPOD! IPHONE ILIFE! Ding Dong the PC is dead.... and boring to boot!
That is the sort of device I’ve pictured for students. Ditch the textbooks and reference books in favor of that. When prices come down this should be less expensive than continually replacing dead-tree material. Given the price of college texts it should already be cheaper.
“The PC’s role in Japanese homes is diminishing, as its once-awesome monopoly on processing power...”
This has been predicted since the early or mid ‘90’s. The home computer has been WILDLY over powered for the sorts of tasks that it was commonly used. Now that these little devices can do many of the things that PC’s were used for it is only natural that people will gravitate to them.
I on the other hand use my computer to run music production software and I can tell you I need a hell of a lot more power in the CPU (3.2GHz presently as well as 3 outboard 1.05GHz effects processors)before I can feel relaxed about power eating functions. It all depends upon what you are doing.
The PC found its niche with the programming, spreadsheet, and word processor apps. All the rest, including everything that is GUI is not PC oriented.
I'm waiting for IWIFE. My way more PC than you could ever hope to be ex had a totally nonintuitive interface...
The resolution of the trace made by the pen is pretty good... very little pixelation, if that’s what you were trying to know about. Cursive writing looks as good on the screen, as it would, if you wrote on a piece of paper and then photographed it, and viewed it on the screen. It has got an active digitiser, unlike the HP model that was indicated by someone earlier (which uses the more inferior PDA-style pressure membrane sensing), and is therefore very good at digitising the stylus input rapidly. By active digitisation, what I mean is that the screen senses the pen’s location all the time, and unlike passive digitisation, the computer is ready to trace the pen well in advance (the start point of tracing is the moment the computer detects pressure). Lift the pen above the screen (max. range approx. 2”) and the cursor follows the pen as you move it throught thin air. That’s how continuous and responsive the sensing is. Passive digitisers can’t trace the cursor while the pen is only hovering above the screen.
The stylus on the Gateway can detect 256 levels of pressure, that can be upgraded to upto 512 levels, if you install the latest driver. 256 is more than enough for many kinds of artistic work, airbrushing and things like that, where the pressure sensitivity adds a useful degree of control.
Currently one of Compaq’s business convertible PCs, one of Toshiba’s, Gateway’s and one Fujitsu model employ active digitisation. The company that makes the sensing device is Wacom, and it is currently the best in the field.
I would have bought Fujitsu or Toshiba, but the features available on the Gateway were too tough to beat. On the quality side, this model is surprisingly good, that too for a brand like Gateway. The build quality easily rivals the the best in the category.
The one I purchased included a 256 MB ATi dedicated graphics card and also a DVD RW drive. These two features were not available on the other models. Gateway’s was the most cost-effective, and ironically, the most feature-packed: Bluetooth, FireWire, WiFi et al.
On the downside, Gateway is pretty heavy- about 6 pounds. This is pretty much the only real downside to Gateway’s convertible. You couldn’t use it as a writing pad while standing, for too long. The Toshiba and the Fujitsu models are excellent in that regard although features have been compromised for low weight. HP’s T1440(sp?) is also good, but lacks a lot of useful features, primarily, the optical drives.
Gateway uses a 1280x768 display that has a coated, protective glass(not plastic) surface. The colours are pretty brilliant on it. If you need better resolution, go for the Toshiba model. It has a screen that is available at a resolution of upto 1440x900, with the same Wacom-style digitiser.
I went through a lot of reviews on this site (plenty of for/against feedback available):
http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/
The cheapest of the particular Gateway convertible can be had for as little as $900. Even less, if you can bargain or buy as a student, on the Gateway website.
Search for 'C140X' on Flickr.com. IIRC, someone has uploaded good quality pictures of the sketches and doodles they made, on the screen.
'C 140 X,' by the way, is the model name for the consumer version of the E 295 C.
Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=c140x&ss=2&ct=6&page=2
Nice. There are newer, pen-based versions of the same toy now. Time for an upgrade?
:^)
I have been an avid tablet user for several years now. I love mine and couldn’t live without it. If you are interested in a tablet the one feature that outweighs all others exponentially is battery life. Most than speed, memory, bells and wistles - battery life is most important. A tablet is above all things portable and that advantage ends as soon as your battery runs out.
Great info... thanks for your help!
I agree and see the same trends here in America. The fact is most people now use their PCs for fairly mundane tasks like web browsing and email. There is no need to run out and buy the latest multi-core processor for that. The bottleneck is in the network and not in the processor running under your desk. I doubt the majority of home users even run apps like MS Office at home (my wife and I have it and use it a few times a year). I upgraded my 3 old machine from 512 to 1.5 GB memory and it now runs Vista just fine (upgrade from XP). The only niche that needs to upgrade hardware more often is PC gamers who want the fastest processors, motherboard and latest videocard.
I’m a long time Windows-PC user and am thinking about making the jump to Apple/Mac OS X for my next purchase. Since it is looking more competitive on price and can dual boot with windows. But that won’t be until my current PC really breaks down or becomes truly obsolete.
Most people (myself included) now would rather save their disposable income for flat screen TVs, gaming consoles and handhelds. Rather than shelling out for a new PC that gives little performance gains in any real terms.
typo correction: meant to type 3 *year* old machine
I’ve always preferred laptops/ tablets over regular desktops. From my experience, manufacturers seems to pay more attention to quality in laptops than on desktops. I’ve rarely had a laptop OS crash. They somehow seem to perform better than desktops of a similar configuration.
For me, battery life is important, but I’m usually using my laptop with the adapter cord plugged in. 12-cell battery packs typically provide over 5 hrs of battery use.
You’re welcome!
I have an old machine I never use. I mostly do my computer stuff on a laptop and I’m trying to get rid of my desktop..
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