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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1140
Japan Watch: Power Mac, eMac, iBook Shore Up Apple Sales
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
October 18th 2002
iMac 17" posts major sales, while 15" falls off the chart.
While the Japanese economy remains precarious, Apple's consumer models are continuing
to hold up reasonably well, with the possibly-surprising exception of the iMac.
As Apple CFO Fred Anderson noted in his Q4 conference call Wednesday, the iPod has
found a real market in Japan. In IGM's previous Japan Watch, iBook and iMac took both
the portable and desktop # 1 slots.
Apple's best-performing desktop was the Power Mac DP G4/867 at # 8. IY's clear the
Japanese market sees the base DP Power Mac a very good value proposition; swap in a
DVD-R and you have a fast flexible machine.
eMac has also put in a solid performance, with the Combo model (the cheapest spec) at
equal # 8 with the Power Mac 867 and several other PC models. One iMac makes the top
20 cut: the SuperDrive-equipped 17" LCD model at equal 14th. The SuperDrive eMac comes
in at equal # 18.
These numbers tend to support Anderson's assertion that Combo drive models are
becoming more popular, and that the iMac 17 has exceeded expectations. The 17"
flat-panel iMac is not a cheap machine by any stretch, and the PCs with which it
shares space are considerably cheaper.
On the notebooks front, only two iBooks are holding up the fort, at equal # 16 and #
18. The base CD-ROM model is the more popular, with the 700MHz 12.1" Combo iBook
taking the lower position.
The overall position of eMac and iBook are better than these rankings suggest;
combining eMac sales, for instance, would place it somewhat higher up the ladder (iof
course, the same applies to similar PC models). Nevertheless, in our previous Japan
Watch, individual iMac and iBook models toppied their respective segments.
Japanese model rankings alter very quickly, particularly as PC manufacturers release
updates very rapidly. Given iBook hasn't had much a refresh beyond a few MHz, it's
still performing extremely well. But it's probably getting overdue for a major refresh
for this demanding notebook market.
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