HP India Sales, a subsidiary of U.S.-based HP Inc., is reinventing itself on the three pillars of ‘core, growth and future’. It is eyeing products for millennials and the gaming market to increase its share of personal computers and printers, according to Sumeer Chandra, managing director.
“In the core is our bread and butter with PC and printer business where the focus is on innovation, right cost structure and being extremely customer-focussed,” said Mr. Chandra in an interview.
“[In] the second pillar, which we call growth, we are going after opportunities in the print space [which] we call the copier market or the A3 market.
“The third is [what] we call ‘future’. There, we are betting on technologies that will become relevant in mainstream five years down the line and we want to prepare for this technology now.”
Personal computer shipments in India grew 11.4% to 9.56 million units in 2017 compared with last year, according to IDC. The market is expected to decline this year due to fewer special projects, sluggish enterprise demand and low demand from small enterprises.
The consumer segment, which accounted for 48% of the total shipments, registered 8.5% rise in 2017 compared with the previous year and e-tail channel would help in increasing the PC penetration with its presence growing in smaller cities, the IDC said.
‘Mobility, a big thing’
HP India analysed the key trends and found that “one-life,” where work-life and personal life were mingling, was one of them, Mr. Chandra said. “We see a rise of millennials who have different expectations from devices. Then, there is a rise in security concerns, mobility is becoming a big thing, and all of this has lead us to think how we should design our products which led us to designing products that appeal more to the millennials and younger generation.”
In personal computers the company has a 30% market share and in printers it has 45%. HP India sells its products to consumers, small and large enterprises and government establishments.
In the printing business, which is largely divided into A4 and A3 depending on the size of paper, HP has been strong in A4 and weak in A3 or non-existent until about one and a half years ago when it acquired Samsung’s A3 business. The deal was closed six months ago, Mr. Chandra said.
“Now, in a very short time period in India, from zero per cent just about four quarters back we are close to 10% of the market,” he said. “So, very quickly we made strong inroads into that A3 market and we are aspiring for 20% of market share in two years.”
HP India is also tapping the digital opportunities with a dedicated Digital India business unit focused on education, healthcare, surveillance, security and other areas.
“A great example of future is 3D printing and we also have augmented reality, virtual reality as technologies that we think will be mainstream in future. We are starting to see great traction in both those spaces today in India. We are in early stages, of course; we just launched the 3D printer in January, this year in India,” he said.
“India is a strategically very important market and in the long term, we are working towards making and enabling the 3D printing ecosystem in India. It could be very disruptive for all Indian companies for a better 3D printing market opportunity. “And then, gaming is a market of big focus, it’s a small but very rapidly growing market in India. Within little over a year, we already have 25% of the market in gaming notebooks,” he said.
Mr. Chandra said he was “bullish” about the PC market in India. “There is more urbanisation happening in India. Today about 30% of Indians live in urban centres, that number as per various studies is going to be 40% by 2020. Today you already have close to 600-plus million phone subscriber, that number is going to jump to 800 million in 2020.
“Internet subscriber base is going to be 700 million-plus by 2020. So, you have that favourable trend. I personally feel very bullish about the IT adoption in India and for the categories we play in which is PCs and printers.”
The company, which has a desktop manufacturing facility in Uttarakhand, is also focusing on key areas such as customers and geographic reach this year.
“We see the next set of customers coming from tier 2, 3, and 4 markets. Geographic expansion is a big focus area for us and we are doing that through our exclusive HP World Stores. Today we have about 550 stores and we plan to reach 600 by the end of this calendar year. “
“Organised retail is growing, online is growing. So, we participate in those as well so that we are able to reach the customers in the new markets.”
