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HP sees double-digit sales growth in China
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-27 09:24

Hewlett-Packard Co. Ltd. on Friday forecast double-digit growth for its China revenues in the current year to October 2005 after the U.S. computer and printer maker expanded into more Chinese cities to meet robust demand.

The number-two computer maker's move to broaden its reach in the world's most populous nation follows rival Dell Inc.'s decision to pull out of the low-end consumer PC market in China earlier this year.

Dell, the world's largest PC maker, also cut its China growth target this year as competition intensified after a round of price wars on cheap computers.

"Growth prospects in China are still very good -- we should be able to grow quite strongly -- certainly double-digit growth rates, and that has been close to the 30 percent mark in recent quarters," Paul Chan, HP's Senior Vice President of Asia
Pacific and Japan, said in an interview.

HP has boosted its headcount in China significantly over the past year to broaden its reach beyond the main cities, he added.

The company recently opened support offices in three more provinces. It has 200 service shops and its products appear in 1,700 retail outlets across China. It also has a network of resellers spanning 100 cities in the country, including Tibet.

HP posted a 13 percent rise in revenues to US$3.4 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter ended October 31, accounting for about 16 percent of its worldwide sales of $21.4 billion. It does not break out specific sales numbers for individual markets.

Chan said HP may not go head-to-head with rivals in extremely cheap consumer products. Its lowest-priced printer costs 399 yuan (US$48.21), while its cheapest PC is 4,999 yuan (US$604).

He said demand for infrastructure solutions, information technology (IT) management services and business continuity solutions from Chinese companies remains strong.

"The consumer segment is only one part of our business, we have enterprise, public sector and SMB (small and medium businesses) segments, and those are doing well," he added.

Apart from China, Chan said India was Asia's other sterling performer, with revenues growing above 30 percent in the fourth quarter. HP's customers in India include state-run Bank of India.

"These two countries would certainly be growth countries for us again in the coming year," he added.



 
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