C. Itoh and Co Ltd &lt;CITT.T> said in a statement it has agreed in principle to buy a Cray Research Inc &lt;CYR> X-MP supercomputer worth 8.3 mln dlrs. The computer will be paid for and used by the Century Research Center (CRC) a research body specialising in civil engineering in which C. Itoh has a 36.2 pct stake a company spokesman said. The final contract will be signed on May 15 and delivery is scheduled for December this year. The U.S. Administration has been urging Japan to buy more U.S. Supercomputers to help relieve trade friction and reduce Japans trade surplus with the U.S. The supercomputer will the eighth such machine sold to a Japanese concern the spokesman said. He said Cray has about 70 pct of the world supercomputer market but under 10 pct in Japan. Fujitsu Ltd dominates the Japanese market for such machines industry sources said. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp which bought a Cray supercomputer in 1984 when it was publicly-owned is the only government-owned entity to have done so. Trade Minister Hajime Tamura was quoted as saying last week that the government is considering buying U.S. Supercomputers.
C. ITOH TO BUY CRAY SUPERCOMPUTER