Shift in Laptop Models Due to Tariffs : Southland May Make Japanese Computers
Two leading Japanese manufacturers of portable, laptop computers are actively considering transfering production of the machines to the United States to reduce trade tensions and circumvent the tariffs imposed last week on Japanese consumer goods by the Reagan Administration.
Among the locations that might be used for the newly transferred manufacturing is the Irvine plant of Toshiba America.
Officials from both Japanese firms, Toshiba America and NEC, said the production shifts are among several alternatives they are studying to maintain their shares of the fast-growing market for the so-called laptop portable computers.
The companies’ powerful 16-bit laptop computers are among the Japanese products hit last Friday with 100% import tariffs, a move designed to punish Japan for purportedly failing to abide by a semiconductor trade agreement signed last year.
John Rehfeld, vice president and general manager of Toshiba America’s Information Systems division in Irvine, said the plant there is among several U.S. facilities the company could outfit to handle production of its two laptop models.
A NEC spokeswoman said that company has four U.S. plants, including a facility in the Northern California community of Roseville, that could be converted to laptop manufacturing within 30 days, if necessary.
Meanwhile, the two companies are trying to squelch fears of shortages and rumors of strict allocations to retailers of their laptop models, which have quickly become top sellers in the United States.
NEC said it has a 60-day inventory of its MultiSpeed laptop model, which currently retails for $1,995. Toshiba said it has slightly less than a two-month supply of its top-of-the-line, $4,000 T-3100 model and its $2,000 T-1100 system.
Both companies said they are not currently allocating their machines to retailers, but admitted that they would resort to that system if they are unable to handle demand over the coming months.
“It’s a very severe situation and there’s not a whole lot we can do,” said Toshiba’s Rehfeld.
However, retailers said Wednesday that consumer demand so far has hardly reached the panic stage.
At Computerland, the nation’s largest computer retailer, customer orders have remained steady, a spokeswoman said. However, she acknowledged that retailer fears have fueled an increase in orders from the company’s central warehouse, prompting the company to impose rationing of its 60- to 90-day supply of both the NEC and Toshiba models.
