Low-Priced Compaq Rollout Apt to Shake Up Japan’s PC Market

TOKYO —  Compaq Computer Corp. plans to introduce low-priced computers in Japan, a move that could shake up the high-priced Japanese computer market.

Compaq officials said they will announce marketing plans Thursday for the company’s low-priced ProLinea models--the same line that set off the current personal computer price war in the United States.

Houston-based Compaq declined to disclose prices before the announcement. But one official said the company was “doing its best” to price the cheapest model under $1,075.

Most low-end computers in Japan sell for about twice that amount. Compaq’s cheapest computer in Japan now retails for $2,460.

Japan’s domestic computer market--the second largest after the United States--has been largely isolated from the fierce price competition in the United States.

Reports of Compaq’s price slashing sped through the industry. The leading business newspaper, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, quoted an official of one computer company as saying the expected price was “a shocking figure.”

“The domestic market here is ripe for a pricing war,” said Darrel Whitten, director of Japanese research for Prudential Securities. “Taiwanese and some Korean machines are showing up. It’s only a question of time.”

Low-priced Taiwanese and South Korean computers, however, haven’t sold well because of poor distribution and lack of a quality image.

That could pose a problem for Compaq as well. The maker of IBM-compatible personal computers entered the Japanese market in March but doesn’t have wide name recognition.

“They’ve got good machines. The question is how they get their marketing act together,” Whitten said.