Laptop observations in Japan

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#1 Post by **tomh009** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:46 am

I was paying some extra attention to the (business) laptops on my current trip to Japan, after some of the recent conversations on these forums. The Japanese generally love small laptops, and here the X series is a mainstream size, with sub-subnotebooks popping up regularly. Did not see a single wide-screen laptop in meetings (I did see them in retail stores, though).

Anyway, my rough census from three days of meetings at three major Japanese companies is about 50% Panasonic, 40% ThinkPad, 10% a little bit of everything. Sony Vaios, which used to be seen regularly, are now definitely an off bird, and the ones you do see look old.

ThinkPads are most commonly X series (did not see an S series, but then those are quite old by now), with an occasional T.

The Panasonics, as a rule, were the T series, CF-T4 and CF-T5; did not see even one of Pianowizard's favoured Y series (CF-Y5 or CF-Y7), although they are definitely available here. The T series is really very much like an X60s -- 12.1" XGA LCD, no optical drive, height/width are practically identical, it's a bit thicker than the X60s but lighter (~1.15 lbs with the lightweight battery).

My X31 definitely looks a little bit big next to all these slim laptops!

The Spirit of X21 · #2 Post by **The Spirit of X21** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:29 am

Did you see anyone still using a PowerBook 2400c?

pianowizard · #3 Post by **pianowizard** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:03 am

Tom, thanks for this informative report. I wonder why they don't like Vaio any more. And they probably find the Panasonic Y5/Y7 too bulky.

#4 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:24 am

pianowizard wrote:I wonder why they don't like Vaio any more

Do a Google on 'problems with Sony Vaio', and you'll see why...

Puppy · #5 Post by **Puppy** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:49 pm

The part about widescreen models sounds promising regarding the future

#6 Post by **tomh009** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:42 pm

The Spirit of X21 wrote:Did you see anyone still using a PowerBook 2400c?

Did not see a single Mac of any kind ...

#7 Post by **tomh009** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 3:44 pm

pianowizard wrote:Tom, thanks for this informative report. I wonder why they don't like Vaio any more. And they probably find the Panasonic Y5/Y7 too bulky.

One of the Japanese guys I talked to made a vague comment that "Vaios aren't very good any more" but I didn't have a chance to dig into that.

The Y series, yes, they are not huge, but definitely the 12.1" form factor is the preferred one in Japan (at least for business laptops).

pianowizard · #8 Post by **pianowizard** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:22 am

RealBlackStuff wrote:Do a Google on 'problems with Sony Vaio', and you'll see why...

So, somehow these problems seriously affect Vaio's popularity in Japan but not in the U.S.?

tomh009 wrote:Did not see a single Mac of any kind ...

When I go to international scientific conferences, I see quite a few Japanese colleagues using 12.1" Macs. Tom, did you have a chance to look at what people outside of those three companies used?

#9 Post by **tomh009** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:34 pm

pianowizard wrote:
tomh009 wrote:Did not see a single Mac of any kind ...
When I go to international scientific conferences, I see quite a few Japanese colleagues using 12.1" Macs. Tom, did you have a chance to look at what people outside of those three companies used?

Not really. No one really uses laptops on trains, so the only thing I can say is that I saw other brands in the stores in Akihibara.

On my previous visits (over a span of maybe five years), including a handful of other companies, ThinkPads and Panasonic have still been the most popular brands (except at companies who make laptops!) at those companies, too, though not to the exclusion of others I saw this time.

Laptop observations in Japan

Laptop observations in Japan

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