Compaq Computer Makes Move on Japanese Market : Technology: The Houston-based firm is following IBM and Apple in introducing a range of PCs and systems.

Compaq Computer Corp. will launch an aggressive move into the Japanese market this week, following the other major U.S. computer makers that have been working to build a sizable presence there for years.

The Houston-based computer maker plans to introduce today a broad range of personal computers and systems, as well as a service and support program, all geared to the Japanese market, a spokesman said.

Compaq opened a Japanese sales subsidiary last July, recruiting as president Masaru Murai, an IBM veteran.

The company said Japan’s growing movement to adopt worldwide computer industry standards has created a major opportunity there.

For years, NEC Corp. has dominated the Japanese market and now maintains about half of the PC market share.

The company’s computers use a customized version of Microsoft Corp.’s disk operating system, MS-DOS, making them incompatible with U.S. industry standard PCs, known as IBM compatibles.

Compaq has been studying its move into the Japanese market for some time and will enter the arena after IBM and Apple have already established a foothold.

IBM and Apple have shored up their efforts to crack the Japanese market wide open.

IBM has the biggest share of any U.S. PC maker, but Apple is nipping at its heels and may have already tied it for those bragging rights.

“We are still the biggest U.S. vendor of PCs in Japan but Apple is not a distant second,” an IBM spokesman said. “Apple is actually catching up real fast.”

Analysts said it will take Compaq some time to grab a meaningful piece of Japan’s PC business. But they noted that Japan presents a better opportunity for growth than the geographic regions where Compaq first made its mark.

It first began its global expansion in 1984, and has established a major following in European markets. But demand for PCs in the United States and Europe has been waning ever since the recession hit. What’s more, many of the large corporations with the deepest pockets have already outfitted their organizations with PCs.

“It takes a company several years years to penetrate that market,” said Marianne Wolk, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. “I would not expect to see quick results in Japan.”

Analysts said Compaq may bear the brunt of the investment required in the current quarter but has little choice but enter the market, analysts said.

“If you’re going to be a global company and Japan’s going to be a huge market, you have to be there,” said Melinda Reach, personal computer analyst Merrill Lynch. “The chance of them being as significant a player there as they are in Europe is infinitesimal.”

In Japan, PCs have caught on slowly and the market remains largely untapped.

Computer makers have built different machines for the Japanese market partly because its character based language requires a different architecture.

Compaq said executives would not be available to elaborate on their products plans until today.