Dell likely to become No. 3 PC supplier in Japan+

TOKYO, Nov. 5 (Kyodo) — Dell Computer Corp. of the United States appears likely to surpass Sony Corp. as the third largest supplier of personal computers (PCs) in Japan in fiscal 2003, becoming the first foreign firm to make the top-three list since fiscal 2000, according to PC shipment data released Wednesday by a private market research institute.

In the April-September first half of fiscal 2003, Dell shipped 540,000 PCs in Japan and captured 9.7% of the Japanese market, up 2.0 percentage points over a year earlier, MultiMedia Research Institute Inc. said.

Dell, known for its low-priced PCs, narrowed third-ranked Sony’s lead to only 0.2 percentage point in the April-September period.

NEC Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. were the two largest PC suppliers in Japan, with respective market shares of 23.3% and 22.0%.

IBM Japan Ltd. captured the third biggest share of the Japanese market for PCs in fiscal 2000 and became the most recent foreign PC maker to make the top-three list.

In fiscal 2002, Dell was the largest PC supplier in the world but ranked fourth in Japan with a market share of 8.0%.