HP shifts to tablets, hybrid notebooks

HP shifts to tablets, hybrid notebooks

Move will make up for falling PC sales

Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's second-largest computer maker, will pay more attention to its consumer tablet and hybrid notebook business to capitalise on large market potential for those devices.

The move is aimed at offsetting sagging desktop or personal computer (PC) sales.

Thitaphon Boonprasit, HP Thailand's business director for printing and personal systems, said the company is set to roll out Slate 7, an Android-based consumer tablet priced at about 5,300 baht next month.

The move is part of the group's strategy to make gadgets using different operating systems instead of only Windows, he said.

IDC Thailand, the global research firm, said the country's tablet market is expected to increase by 94% this year, with 5.3 million devices including those earmarked for the government's One Tablet per Child scheme.

Mr Thitaphon admitted HP's ranking in the Thai consumer notebook segment has declined to fourth place from second.

To boost the market share, HP has restructured its product portfolios to cover a wider range of customers, with prices ranging from 9,900 to 50,000 baht, he said.

The company is also on the verge of launching a new generation of hybrid notebooks which are projected to start at 29,900 baht.

It recently rolled out a series of PC models priced from 8,900 to 44,900 baht to retain its 14% local market share in that segment.

Thailand's PC computer imports are set to remain flat this year at between 1.5 and 1.6 million units, while notebook imports will likely decline by 7% to 1.8 million units this year, said IDC Thailand.

Jeerawut Wongpimonporn, Lenovo Thailand's country general manager, said Thailand is one of four Asean countries showing double-digit growth for the company in last year's fourth quarter.

IDC and the Connecticut-based Gartner Inc have both released figures showing Lenovo has become the No.1 PC maker in the world for the first time.

As of June 30, Lenovo had a 16.7% share of the worldwide PC market, up from 15% in June 2012.

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