Mitsui Electronics, Limited, is considering buying a labor$-$saving pierce of equipment and provided the following data:

Required:

$1$a$.$ Compute the payback period for the equipment.

$1$ b$.$ If the company requires a payback period of four years or less, would it buy the equipment?

$2$a$.$ Compute the simple rate of return on the equipment. Use straight$-$line depreciation based on the equipment's useful life.

$2$ b$.$ Would the company buy the equipment if its required rate of return is $12\%?$