A recent survey of 22 major cities by the China Mainland Marketing Research Co. indicate that the number of the computers sold in these cities has exceeded 1.6 million for the year.

Of the total, the number of laptops reached more than 140,000, rising 36.7 percent from last year, according to the survey covering such cities as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Harbin, Wuhan and Xi’an.

Brighter prospects are expected for the computer market in the year ahead, as the survey found 14.7 percent of city residents have expressed a strong desire to buy one.

The survey predicts that the number of computers sold for home use in 2001 will hit more than 2.7 million, and the laptops will shoot up almost 200 percent.

A total of 10,000 samples were issued during the survey and more than 9,800 valid ones were received, a company official said.

(People’s Daily 12/23/2000)