newsbytes@clarinet.com (01/14/90)
TOKYO, JAPAN, 1990 JAN 10 (NB) -- Small, lightweight book-sized computers, gaining in popularity in Japan, are being discounted less than current desktop and laptop personal computers on the market. NEC's PC-98 NOTE, with list price of 248,000 yen ($1,700), is sold for about 200,000 yen ($1,400) on certain shop counters. Toshiba's DynaBook is selling between 160,000 and 170,000 yen ($1,100 and 1,400), though the list price is 198,000 yen or $1,400. NEC claims that it shipped 20,000 units of its PC-98 NOTE last month, a quantity that is meeting market demand. Toshiba, on the other hand, expects to report shipments of 120,000 units of DynaBook in fiscal 1989, ending March this year, twice what was initially expected, and due mainly to the large assortment of low-priced software for the machine on the market. (Ken Takahashi/19900111)