Tokyo ? The recession is causing a massive consumer shift in Japan: No longer do its famously finicky and brand-conscious consumers assume imported and no-name electronics are as cheap in quality as they are in price.

As products from toasters to laptops carry increasingly similar components and special features — and as consumers increasingly seek bargains — price is becoming as important a distinction among electronics in Japan as it is in most countries.

Lesser-known manufacturers, which have seen success around the world for years, are finally cutting into the sales of homegrown electronics powerhouses like Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. And opportunities are opening here for retailers catering to consumers who are comfortable seeing electronics as commodities.

Nikkei Market Access, the research unit of Japan’s biggest business newspaper, The Nikkei, estimates that consumers expect to pay one-third less for a computer this year than they did last year. Shinya Torihama, retail analyst at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, says products from lesser-known makers do well as long as consumers believe they offer quality comparable to bigger brands.

“Japanese are still picky about quality, but they are starting to take a much harder look at pricing,” Torihama said.

Newly frugal Japanese consumers may finally be ready for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which pushes electronics made outside Japan and has struggled here since arriving in 2002.