The new business opportunities created by the Internet are dizzying. Types of online business opportunities, such as: Website construction E-commerce and Yu'e Bao are still expanding rapidly, and the division of labor is becoming more and more detailed. For example, browsers are divided into browsers that support front-end software, browsers that support e-mail, and browsers that support 3D images. E-mail has voice mail, image mail, video mail. The server is also divided into home page server, mail server and security system server. New technologies related to the Internet are like a snowball rolling rapidly, creating unlimited business opportunities and huge industries.
However, the computer industry, especially the personal computer industry, is the most relevant and the largest industry at present. The computer is the basis of the current Internet access. The network has promoted the development of the computer industry and outlined the future of the computer industry. Driven by the low price and guided by the network, the global personal computers grew by 12% every year. In 1998, the global personal computers sold 90 million units, and in 1999, the sales volume will exceed 100 million units for the first time. Among them, there were 22.82 million in the first quarter, 22.66 million in the second quarter, 24.89 million in the third quarter, and 30.38 million in the fourth quarter. Computers are selling well all over the world.
In 1998, the trend of low-cost computers was blowing in the American market, and computer manufacturers launched low-cost personal computers of about $1000. This trend of low-cost computers will also spread to Europe, Japan, etc., and its price will drop from $1000 to about $600. PC sales in Western Europe rose 26%. The extremely attractive price of desktop computers and the rapid growth of Internet and Intranet have contributed to the prosperity of the Western European market. According to the employee purchase plan, each organization can get tax relief treatment when it purchases personal computers for its employees, which makes personal computers continue to be popular in Scandinavia, Northern Europe. The trade unions in this area have also been pressuring employers to purchase personal computers for employees to learn information skills for employees and their children. There has been some decline in Eastern Europe, partly due to the impact of the continuing political and financial crisis in Russia.
In the Middle East and Africa, due to government investment in small and medium-sized banks, the market recovered. The year-on-year growth rate of personal computer sales reached 28%, and the sales of personal computers in Latin America rose 10.6%. The sales volume of notebook computers has increased by about 40% over the same period last year, because the price of notebook computers has declined while the functions have increased. Computer sales in the Asia Pacific region have also gone out of the trough. Affected by the financial crisis, personal computer sales in the Asia Pacific region showed a negative growth of 1% in 1997, but they have gone out of the trough and recovered. In the fourth quarter of 1998, the sales of personal computers in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan rose by 5% compared with the same period in 1997. In 1999, the sales of personal computers in the Asia Pacific region will rise by 16%. In the third quarter of 1998, the sales volume of personal computers in China, the largest market in the Asia Pacific region, increased by 28% over the same period in 1997, and the growth rate in India reached 24%. The growth rate in New Zealand reached 15%.
