Akihabara News (Tokyo) — A record 15.9 million computers were shipped in Japan over the course of the year 2020, with demand boosted by the pandemic and its enhanced teleworking requirements.
This shipping volume was up 1.3% year-on-year and the highest since records began to be collected in 1995. The data was collected by the MM Research Institute.
Aside from the coronavirus emergency, demand for computers was also driven by the GIGA School Program launched in December 2019 by the Ministry of Education, which aims to supply an educational device to every school student and to establish high-speed, high-capacity communication networks in schools across the nation.
In terms of specific products, the big winner in 2020 was the NEC Lenovo, which shipped 5.56 million units, or about 34.6% of the market share.
The average shipping price of computers in Japan was ¥87,788 (US$805) as consumers were mainly drawn to lower-priced options.
Industry analysts forecast that 2021 will see a sharp reversal of the upward trend with much lower sales volumes. The unusual amount of household spending to purchase computers for teleworking and the tailing off of the GIGA School Program is expected to slash demand significantly.
