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The article reports on the intensifying competition in the copiers market which has affected the dominant position of Xerox Corp. in the worldwide market for plain-paper copiers. The companies that played a role in reducing Xerox's market share are Japan's Ricoh, Savin, and Nashua, whose shares rose to 9 percent. It is noted that the decision of the competitors of Xerox to take on the company individually gave Xerox a chance to launch an assault on the small-copier segment.

The article focuses on the strategies that can be used by businesses to respond to Japanese competition. Topics discussed include the need for businesses to consider their product and determine the degree to which potential competitors have significant advantages, the labor productivity advantage taken by the Japanese in manufactured goods and the changes adopted by Japanese manufacturers like shifting to near-continuous processing.

Focuses on competition faced by the computer software industry in the United States. Dominance of U.S. companies in the world software industry; Efforts of rivals of the U.S. software industry such as Japan, Germany, Canada and Singapore, to build up their own software capabilities; Discussion on visible signs of weakness in the U.S. computer software industry; Display of Japan's software prowess, evident in its quality exports. INSET: Eureka may be Europe's ticket to software sovereignty, by J.B....

The article focuses on the competition between U.S. and Japanese supercomputer industries, featuring the roles of Japan's Hitachi Ltd. and Fujitsu Ltd. It says that the companies have declared an all-out challenge to the U.S. as they will deliver supercomputers designed to outmatch those of U.S. in terms of speed by 1984 and plan to lead the industry by 1990. Experts insist that U.S. should maintain its lead, and the industry responded with research and development consortium and reorganization.

Presents information on U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Paul E. Tsongas. Comment on how his party needs to drop their business-bashing and class warfare; View of Tsongas on how the U.S. takes on economic superpowers Germany and Japan; Report that he wants the government to deal with a shortage of venture capital by stepping in and investing in promising technologies; Opinion of Republican strategist Kevin Phillips calls Tsongas, the last of the Atari Democrats, referring to a late 1970s breed who wanted more government-industry cooperation to meet global competition, particularly in high-tech industries.

Reports on the announcement by electronics company Sony Corp. to sell digital audio tape (DAT) recorders for as little as $799, far less than anyone expected. Presence of a microchip in each DAT cassette deck for unlimited taping; Competitors of Sony which launched competing machines.

The article reports on the issues concerning the effort of the Japanese Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) to establish cartels. It notes that such move receives serious opposition from the U.S. as well as from antitrust proponents across the country. Those opposing groups claim that cartels pose threats to the nation's recession-stricken companies and cause adverse impacts on competitiveness.