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Adith Charlie

Berlin (Germany), June 10 Technology multinational Hewlett-Packard plans to strengthen presence in the luxury PC segment in India by launching high-end desktops that will have touch sensitive screens.

The company will launch various variants of its touch screen desktops, the ‘Touchsmart PC’, by the next couple of months, according to Mr Adrian Koch, Senior Vice-President (Personal Systems group), Asia Pacific and Japan.

“The luxury segment in India is showing a fantastic pace of growth. We will cash on this opportunity by launching the Touchsmart PC through selective vendors and channel partners ,” Mr Koch told Business Line on the sidelines of the company’s ‘Connecting your world’ event being held in Berlin, Germany.

The Touchsmart PC (IG504 and IQ506 models) will be priced upwards of $1299. Mr Satjiv S. Chahil, Senior Vice-President, Global Marketing, feels that the Touchsmart PC could be marketed as an efficient learning tool for kids in the age group of 2-10.

Industry watchers say that HP is perceived as a ‘mass market’ vendor, especially in the Indian context.

“By veturing into high-end computing products, HP expects to complete its range of offerings in the country. We will continue to offer affordable computing to first time users in India through our Compaq range,” said Mr Koch.According to data from IDC, the Indian client personal computer market recorded a 20 per cent growth in unit shipments to 6.5 million PCs in 2007 as against 5.4 million PCs shipped in the previous year.

In India, HP is keen to expand its geographical reach by tapping into lower tier cities going forward, said Mr Koch.

HP markets its products in India through 4,100 multi-branded outlets and large format retailers.

In order to test the Indian markets, the company had selectively test marketed the previous touch sensitive phone, the Touchsmart IQ770, in January last year.

Separately, HP has launched 17 new notebooks, ranging from the value-based Compaq brand to the high-end Voodoo.

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