Sony Corp, maker of Vaio notebook computers, said it's sticking to its personal computer shipment target of 3.9 million units in the year to March next year, expecting new products to stimulate demand.
"At this moment, we'd like to achieve that target," Keiji Kimura, head of Sony's mobile network unit, said following a press conference to introduce upgraded Vaio models.
"We are introducing new products to help achieve our goals." PC makers worldwide are suffering from the worst slump in at least a decade, as a worldwide economic slowdown discourages consumers and corporations from buying more of the devices.
Second quarter PC shipments fell for the first time since 1986, dropping 1.9 percent to 30.4 million units, according to Dataquest Inc.
Demand could fall further after Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
"It's hard to predict demand after the terrorist attacks," Kimura said.
"We are now watching global PC market" to decide whether to revise the target.
The second-largest consumer-electronics maker shipped 2.5 million PCs in the year ended March 31.
Sony expects 1.8 million of the total shipments targeted this financial year to come from the domestic market.
New Models Sony yesterday announced in Japan 36 new models of the Vaio, featuring advanced wireless connections, video recording capability using MPEG2 technology and more memory.
All the models use Windows XP, Microsoft Corp's new operating system.
The new products will be available in the shops starting Oct. 25.
Since introducing its first Vaio series in 1997, Sony has enhanced technology connecting a PC to the Internet and to other consumer electronics like digital cameras, mobile phones and television sets.
Sony last year surpassed Toshiba Corp as Japan's fourth-biggest PC maker, helped by brisk consumer demand, according to the Japanese unit of Gartner, Inc.
Sony's share rose to 8.9 percent from 6.8 percent in the Japan market, which grew 31 percent to 14 million PCs, the market researcher said.
NEC Corp. retained its top position with a 21.5 percent market share, followed by Fujitsu Ltd with 20.5 percent.
IBM Japan Ltd had 9.5 percent, while Toshiba fell to 6.2 percent from 6.8 percent, becoming Japan's fifth-largest PC maker, according to Gartner.
Sony shares have fallen about 35 percent since the start of this year.
They rose ?240, or 5 percent, to 5,060.
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