The Hindu Business Line : India, China biggest markets for HP

India and China are the two biggest markets to focus on in Asia Pacific for Hewlett-Packard, the $ 87.9 million US-based information technology company, according to a company official.

Five years ago, India was considered to be an emerging and a small market for HP. However, today, India is one of the fastest growing markets, said Mr Adrian Koch, Senior Vice President, Personal Systems Group and SMB, HP Asia Pacific and Japan.

The Asia Pacific and Japan constitute about 16 per cent of the company's global revenue. India's share in the Asia Pacific market is 10-20 per cent, he said without giving a precise number. China's share is much more, he told Business Line.

According to Mr Koch, Asia is setting trends in IT for other regions, including the US and Europe, to follow. This was the reverse a few years ago. For instance, Asia is currently leading in portable devices, and people in this part of the region want small and sleek devices. Similarly, the region is far ahead of others in the mobile sector, he said.

HP's strategy is to device products made in Asia for Asia. The company is developing local competency and building a strong local market by hiring the right kind of people for the right geography. The company is present in about 500 cities in India compared to about 20 cities three years ago, he said.

Mr Koch feels that more mega deals such as HP-Compaq and IBM-Lenova would happen in the IT products industry in future. Such consolidations would make big companies much bigger and the small ones would become much smaller.

HP is increasing its global marketing campaign. Recently it launched "The Computer is Personal Again," a global, integrated marketing campaign. The aim of the campaign is to grow a more profitable global business through the introduction, support and marketing of innovative products and solutions. The campaign focuses on highly individual and personal relationship people have with their computers, unique to each user.

HP wants to tell the consumer how to make his personal computer a more powerful personal tool, whether by customising its appearance or using his fingerprint to lock it up, says an HP release.

In India, using HP Laboratories in Bangalore, the company would innovate products not only for the domestic market, but also for the Asian region, he said.