Dell exec foresees a time when Chinese revenue could supersede Japanese revenue Coming off a strong fourth quarter in Asia, Dell expects sales in China to grow even faster during the coming year, but Japan is likely to remain the company’s largest market in the region for the foreseeable future, a senior company executive said Friday.“You could conceivably see a time where the Chinese revenue supersedes the Japanese revenue,” said Steve Felice, Dell’s vice president of Asia-Pacific. While the Chinese market is growing faster than Japan, Dell’s business in Japan is still showing strong growth, he said, noting the company’s revenue from Japan rose by 20 percent during the fourth quarter.“It’s going to take some time before China is larger than Japan, but I see it happening,” Felice said. Overall, Dell’s revenue from Asia, including Japan, was $6.6 billion in 2005, up 21 percent from $5.5 billion during the previous year. Worldwide, the company reported a net profit of $3.6 billion on revenue of $55.9 billion during 2005.Market researcher Gartner Inc. called 2005 a “phenomenal year” for PC sales in Asia, with the highest growth rates seen in the region since 2000.In China, PC shipments grew 29 percent during the year, to 19.3 million units, Gartner said. Dell was the fourth-largest PC vendor in China during 2005, with shipments growing by 39.4 percent over the previous year, to 1.5 million units, according to Gartner. “China is a real standout for us,” Felice said, noting that Dell also saw strong growth in India and South Korea.Most of Dell’s sales in China come from the country’s major cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, Felice said. In the past, the company has taken criticism from some analysts, who questioned whether the company is missing out on growing demand for PCs in the country’s smaller cities and towns. However, Felice said the company will continue to focus its efforts on the larger cities.“The large majority of revenues are coming from the major markets, which is fine with us,” he said, noting that Dell’s sales coverage in China includes more than 200 cities. Technology Industry