HP Planning to Introduce Tablets in 2014
HP Planning to Introduce Tablets in 2014 by UCStrategies Staff
Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, has stated that HP will be a dominant player in the tablet and mobile PC market – which is set to combine into an enormous mobile device market – when HP releases its first smartphone in what may be 2014.
Whitman stated, “PCs may be declining [and] tablets may be growing [...] The business definition here is 'personal systems.' It's not PCs. It's personal systems. And we think we can win.” She added, “But I suspect we will move beyond that because we've got to, I believe, have the full array of devices. If we are in the personal computer business, the smartphone is the main device in many countries in the world. I don't know how we can be HP without having the full range of devices,” she said.
The CEO of NWN, a Waltham, Mass.-based solution provider and long-term HP partner, Mont Phelps, acknowledged his delight in seeing progress in HP's strategy to embrace the challenge of finding a footing on the smartphone and tablet PC ladder.
Phelps believes that HP is not late for the market, and still has a chance to show it can be a major player: “Stability has come to the PC and desktop, but the market for smartphones and tablets is still developing. If someone comes out with a better solution, [they] have the capacity to develop the market. Look at the Apple iPhone. The fifth generation is out already. First movers have the advantage. But over time, the better solutions win.”
Phelps added that although the smartphone and tablet PC markets are set to merge, they do differ with regards to timing: “The longer we go without a business-compatible Microsoft solution, the bigger the effort to force the iPad into businesses. The longer this goes on, the more traction the iPad gets.” He argues that this is not the right thing for business and adds that the smartphone market is different: “Smartphones don't have the competitive pressures from Android […] I'm enjoying the battles between Apple and Google.”
Whitman refused to comment on which operating system (Android, Windows Phone or WebOS) HP would adopt for its smartphone. She stated, “Ultimately, if we decide to do a smartphone, we will make a decision about what the right operating system is.” Whitman added that Microsoft is a very good HP partner, with reference to the former entering the table PC business, but that HP will “put [its] capability for devices against anyone's, including Microsoft's.”
HP's engineers, its distribution and its trusted relationship with CIOs are amongst some of the key strengths with which the company can successfully compete in the new tablet-PC market. Whitman commented that additional competition only makes the company better. HP will likely introduce two hybrid models to the market, and both will function as laptop and tablet PC. According to Whitman, Microsoft's Surface does not function like a traditional laptop even though it has a keyboard.
The HP tablet will allow users to displace the back of the screen, or replace it entirely. It will have a 10-hour battery life, and this can be extended by another 10 hours with the use of a “Smart Jacket” which fits over the tablet.
It is important for HP to stay in the PC business, according to Whitman. For one, PCs are synonymous with the heritage of HP. She stated, “It's nearly a $40 billion business [and] we're still No. 1 in the marketplace.” HP's large PC business also enables large supply-chain synergies to work alongside its server and storage business. (CY) Link