FY 2008 consumer electronics shipments see 1st fall in 7 years

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TOKYO, April 22 Kyodo -
Shipments of consumer electronics like flat-panel televisions fell 3.0 percent
in Japan in fiscal 2008 from the year before to 2,872.3 billion yen, for the
first fall in seven years, an industry body said Wednesday.
The Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said
the downturn stemmed chiefly from a decline in demand for car navigation
systems and other audiovisual equipment for automobiles amid the global
economic slowdown.
An association official said, ''We'd like to pin our hopes on the government's
stimulus measures spurring consumer demand, although the economic environment
is still harsh.''
Shipments of visual-related electronics such as plasma display and liquid
crystal display televisions posted a 2.1 percent increase to 1,994.0 billion
yen in the business year ended March 31.
But those of audiovisual electronics for automobiles such as navigation systems
dropped 14.5 percent to 674.0 billion yen. In the product sector, shipments of
electronic toll collection devices were immune to the overall fall due to
government-financed discounts on expressway tolls for ETC-equipped vehicles.
The association's statistics show that shipments of consumer electronics posted
year-on-year gains in the April to September first half of fiscal 2008.
But monthly shipments nosedived since October, when the global financial
turmoil worsened.
In March alone, shipments of consumer electronics dropped 14.8 percent to 241.8
billion yen, extending a year-on-year losing streak to the sixth month in a
row.
==Kyodo