''The ratio between assembled and branded PCs is now 50:50, putting both seller groups on an even keel''

HP's gameplan for its business PC range is to maintain its market
leadership in the segment, and it has revamped its gameplan for this product
line. It has also set up a solution partner organization, internally, to create
a differentiation between its range of products from those provided by
assemblers. Nitin Chaudhry reveals that HP is going to help its customers make a
smooth transition from legacy systems to the new business PCs.

You recently phased out your d330 business desktop series and upgraded
d530 as well. What prompted HP to make these changes?

We introduce a refreshing product line every 15 months based on feedback
from our customers. This is in sync with our strategy to work with technology
drivers of the industry.

We work with Intel and Microsoft parallelly to develop their platforms. Intel
had launched a platform in July, based on which we have come out with a new
series of our product line.

As per the latest upgrade, d330 has now been completely phased out and
replaced by dx6100 which has a 915G Intel platform. Our d530, which was a global
series of multi-form desktops, has been replaced by the d7100 series. However,
our lowest-end d220 offering, based on the 845GV platform, will still be
available for at least six months for low-end customers.

What took HP so long to bring the latest technology to your customers?

It took three months for our customers to adapt to the new technology and we
were also working at the back end to reduce the price differential between the
two platforms. We want it to be a smooth sailing for our customers. At present,
all our customers have completely migrated to the new technology without having
to shell extra money out of their IT budgets. The price delta between the two is
almost nil right now.

What is the new technology all about?

On the technology front, the d240 (now dx2000) remains the same, only the
nomenclature has changed. The dx6100 and dc7100 work on Intel 915 G platform,
which has HT (800 MHz FSB) and Prescott.

Incidentally, HP gained leadership in the business PC market segment
recently. Is the introduction of this new product line a deliberate move to
leverage on this lead?

Yes, we have gained leadership over HCL after six- seven quarters. In fact,
we have doubled our marketshare over the past fiscal. We are witnessing major
traction from segments like BPO, ITES and telecom for our business PC range.
Segments like government and education are also picking up.

This new range is part of our yearly technical upgrades, as I mentioned.
However, we hope that this will help us maintain the market leadership.

With the saturation in the metros, many vendors are moving to up-country
markets. How are you planning to position HP in this space?

Firstly, I don't agree that the market in metros has saturated. The
overall market has grown and is poised to grow because a PC is ubiquitous and
not everyone can still afford a laptop.

Secondly, with MNC brands and local Indian manufacturers lowering their
prices, the competition from assembled market has also reduced. To me, the ratio
between assembled and branded PCs has come down from 70-30 to 50% each, over the
last couple of years.

Today both these seller groups are on an even keel. The assembled market may
be thriving on home segment primarily because the MNC brands, which are as it is
very few in number, have never really aggressively looked a the home segment
before.

However, I would say that the market has become highly segmented these days.

As far as up-country focus is concerned, HP has internally formed an
organization, which is totally focussed on up-country. It is called the Solution
Providers' Organization or the SPO. 

KUSUM MAKHIJA

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