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Is HP listening?
By Dhaval Valia
 In my November 15 editorial, I had clearly pointed out that HP’s market leadership in the consumer PC segment is under threat. The recent Gartner report validated my observations.
Quarter-on-quarter, HP has held the No 1 position in the notebook segment in the country since 2003; and in the desktop segment it has been the market leader since 2005. However, this remarkable run ended in Q4 2009 with Dell claiming the top spot in the notebook market, including both commercial and consumer. Even in the consumer desktop market, it’s No 2 spot may be under threat as Acer is slowly but steadily breathing up its neck.
HP has also witnessed a remarkable decline in market share in the laser category. As per the Gartner report, HP lost 19 percent market share in the laser category—from 62 percent in 2008 to 43 percent in 2009. Here, Canon is giving a tough competition to HP. Canon has upped its market share from 13 to 33 percent over the last 12 months.
This surely raises doubts about whether HP is losing it grip over the Indian market. Many might argue if it’s fair to make such speculation based on mere quarterly figures.
However if one listens to the channel, then its clear that the 2009 figures are a manifestation of the channel dissatisfaction that has been building up over the last few quarters. The signs of decline in HP’s fortunes were ominous. Partners allege that issues such as channel overcapacity, lack of competitive pricing, slow market responsiveness, lack of marketing innovations, have been long ignored by HP. And the company’s complacency in addressing these long impending issues meant that some of its strong partners aligned with competition which led to a loss of both mindshare and market share for HP.
HP acknowledges that it has made some mistakes in the past, which it is now addressing, and has re-emphasized its channel allegiance. The company’s success in India is largely because of the channel mindshare it has enjoyed over the years. In many ways, it has played an instrumental role in building the Indian IT channel. So if HP decides, it should have no problems addressing the issues highlighted by channels.
But to do so, it needs to listen to channel grievances. For the last few quarters, channel issues have been falling on deaf ears at HP.
I hope Neelam Dhawan and team are listening now. |