Shipments of consumer electronic products fell 13.7 percent in April from a year earlier to ¥200.3 billion, declining for the seventh consecutive month due largely to sluggish demand for car navigation systems and other audiovisual equipment for automobiles, an industry body said Monday.
But the pace of decline slowed from a drop of 14.8 percent in March, partly because of relatively robust demand for flat-panel televisions and DVD players, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said.
The association is expecting some improvement in shipments in May, saying demand for environmentally friendly TVs is likely to increase further thanks to the government's so-called eco-point system.
The program provides incentives to buyers of ecologically friendly electronic appliances, including TV sets designed for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
By product, shipments of audiovisual equipment for automobiles tumbled 27.1 percent to ¥44.7 billion, down for the seventh straight month.
Shipments of visual equipment such as TVs fell 6.6 percent to ¥140.8 billion and those of audio devices dropped 24.4 percent to ¥14.8 billion.