Three New Products May Help to Lift Japan's Economy.

(From Journal of Japanese Trade & Industry (JJTI))

Refrigerators, washing machines and television sets were the "three holy durables" in Japan that helped jack up the economy in the postwar transitional period from devastation to reconstruction and then to high-flying growth. With no clear signs of economic revival in sight following the collapse of the bubble economy more than a decade ago, three durable items - digital cameras, DVD recorders and thin TVs - are drawing strong public expectations as products that may help to salvage the stagnant economy.

Digital cameras have spearheaded the booming sales. Selling briskly at mass home appliance retail stores are 3 million-pixel models, priced around \39,800 each. Digital camera manufacturers are operating at full capacity. Canon, Inc. saw its digital camera production almost double to 9 million units in 2003 from 4.3 million in 2002, according to a spokesman for the company.

Also drawing consumer interest are DVD recorders equipped with hard disks that can record moving images without videotapes and plasma-display and liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TVs. These are called three new "holy durables."

"The three new durables ...