News & Analysis
Why Microsoft’s Surface will be a no-show in Japan
Junko Yoshida
10/21/2012 7:08 PM EDT
Price competition
NEC's Lavie Y has an LCD screen that flips 360 degrees, allowing it to be used as a tablet. It was jointly developed by NEC and China's Lenovo. Lavie Y is the first model from a Japanese manufacturer that runs Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 for tablets. It will sell for about 90,000 yen ($1,137).
Toshiba will release notebooks that can also be used as tablets by sliding the keyboard under the LCD screen. They are expected to sell for about 150,000 yen ($1,895).
Acer Japan Corp. is also reportedly releasing a Windows 8 tablet with a 10-inch screen, likely selling for around 70,000 yen ($884) by the end of the year.
Microsoft's Surface will be priced at $499 in the U.S. market, and will compete directly with all new products if released in Japan.
Whether new tablets and PCs running Windows 8 are sufficient to turn the tide for PCs remains unclear. Domestic PC shipments this year will grow only by 4 percent to about 16.3 million units, according to market researcher IDC Japan.
What is certain is that price competition during the year-end shopping season in Japan will be intense.
Related stories:
NEC's Lavie Y has an LCD screen that flips 360 degrees, allowing it to be used as a tablet. It was jointly developed by NEC and China's Lenovo. Lavie Y is the first model from a Japanese manufacturer that runs Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 for tablets. It will sell for about 90,000 yen ($1,137).
NEC's LaVie LCD screen flips 360 degrees, so that it can be used as a tablet.
Toshiba will release notebooks that can also be used as tablets by sliding the keyboard under the LCD screen. They are expected to sell for about 150,000 yen ($1,895).
Toshiba's new device has a keyboard that slides under the LCD screen for tablet use
Acer Japan Corp. is also reportedly releasing a Windows 8 tablet with a 10-inch screen, likely selling for around 70,000 yen ($884) by the end of the year.
Microsoft's Surface will be priced at $499 in the U.S. market, and will compete directly with all new products if released in Japan.
Whether new tablets and PCs running Windows 8 are sufficient to turn the tide for PCs remains unclear. Domestic PC shipments this year will grow only by 4 percent to about 16.3 million units, according to market researcher IDC Japan.
What is certain is that price competition during the year-end shopping season in Japan will be intense.
Related stories:
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GREAT-Terry
10/22/2012 5:44 AM EDT
Wow the price of those Japanese tablets is high! Is it targeted for notebook replacement (or simply they are ultrabook or so)?
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ughhhh
10/22/2012 7:25 AM EDT
The comma is wrong; 10,000 yen = $126
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junko.yoshida
10/22/2012 1:34 PM EDT
Yes, 10,000 yen = $126. The comma is NOT wrong.
These Japanese PC/tablets mentioned in the article, except for Fujitsu' Arrow Tab, have been developed as a new generation of notebook PC that can be also used as a tablet.
Indeed, the pricing seems very high; but they are priced for the Japanese domestic market, and the current yen-U.S. dollar exchange rate wouldn't help, either.
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Bert22306
10/22/2012 4:28 PM EDT
Junko, look at the bottom of the first page of your article. The comma is indeed off one place.
I find these new type of tablets to have gobs of potential. Hard to imagine that they would flop. Even if Win8 itself doesn't appeal to everyone, at least in its initial Service Pack 0.
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junko.yoshida
10/22/2012 5:25 PM EDT
Thanks, Bert. My mistake. Fixed.
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Yog-Sothoth
10/22/2012 2:18 PM EDT
Windows 8 is just *so* horrible. Visually it's like a childs building bricks. Only those completely lacking in aesthetics would want to use it. Yuck.
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Quintadad
10/23/2012 2:49 PM EDT
Wow. So much for "to each his own".
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rick.merritt
10/22/2012 4:38 PM EDT
M'soft would run a big risk getting an early black eye on Surface from sophisticated Japan consumers turning their noses down at a device that has good quality but sells in part by being a cheaper alternative to an iPad or a tablet from local giants like Toshiba and Sony.
Better strategy for M'soft is to build demand in more cost sensitive markets and see if it can build envy-demand in Japan.
It will be interesting to watch how this plays out!
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ruserious
10/22/2012 5:17 PM EDT
I believe the article should read:
The machine will sell for 100,000 yen($1,263).
Perhaps Japan is a less price-sensitive market, with a greater focus on quality.
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David Taylor
10/23/2012 5:22 AM EDT
It is a question whether the Windows 8 will be a success.
http://www.league-soft.com/how-to/convert-avi-to-mpeg-mac.html
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fan1234
12/27/2012 9:53 PM EST
The price of windows 8 tablet is so high. And there are not so many apps to adapt it.
free software download
http://www.bestdownloadreview.com/
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