HP bets on its entry-level printers in Gujarat

In a countrywide launch, Hewlett-Packard (HP) recen-tly introduced its two new entry level laser printers, HP LaserJet 1010 and HP LaserJet 1015 in Ahmedabad. “hp 1010 is priced at Rs 10,000 and hp 1015 priced at Rs 14,000,” info-rmed Kewal Kaul, Manager (region territory), HP Gujarat.

“We have a market share of 80 percent in laser printers,” Kaul said. That gives HP a major chunk of the market, with the nearest competitor having a 16 to 17 percent market share. In the laser jet category, HP’s ot-her offerings include hp 1000, hp 1005, hp 1150, hp 1300 and hp 3300 mfp, ranging between Rs 12,500 and Rs 21,500. In the inkjet segment also, HP has a dominant market share.

According to market sour-ces, HP is giving a margin of four percent to the dealers, wh-ich is the industry norm. “The market situation is such that freebies cannot be thrown in at the moment, so there are no special schemes to push the two new products aggre-ssively,” sources said.

Both company sources and dealers have ruled out the ann-ouncement of any particular scheme in the near future. “We do not get the kind of margins which would enable us to offer freebies with the printers,” said a prominent dealer of HP.

HP has been laying conside-rable emphasis on increasing its retail presence in the cou-ntry. It has over 700 outlets nationwide, spread over 226 cities. According to company sources, “We have plans to fur-ther expand to 1,000 retail out-lets by the end of 2003.” 

HP has a dedicated retail out-let in Ahmedabad, Alkon Com-puters. “While Samsung produ-cts are also freely available, HP has scored by having exclusive retail outlets,” said one of the dealers.

All HP’s reseller retail stores carry the entire portfolio of HP’s imaging and printing products-from inkjet printers, scanners, all-in-one devices, entry level laser printers, Com-paq Presario home PCs to Pre-sario notebooks.

Binu Alex

(CNS)