RIYADH, 2 May 2006 — During a media roundtable last week, Hewlett Packard Middle East announced details of recent investments in Saudi Arabia. Anil Ghandi, GM, HP Personal Systems Group, Middle East, stated that the local assembly plant, based in Riyadh, will now act as a hub for regional production of desktop PCs, following recent enhancements to its infrastructure. The plant, which opened in 2003, was designed to meet an increasing market demand for locally assembled computing products, giving consumers faster access to technology tailored for their region.
Ghandi explained that the expansion was a reflection of Saudi Arabia’s continued importance to HP and one of series of investments designed to meet increasing demand in the region. “HP was the first multinational to establish a PC assembly plant in the Kingdom, demonstrating our ability to anticipate the market potential before our competitors,” he remarked. “By listening closely to our customers’ needs we have been able to predict demand levels and ensure our capacity to supply grows ahead of this demand.”
Specifically, the increased capacity of the plant allows HP to supply its distribution network in parts of Africa as well as the Middle East, directly contributing to the Kingdom’s economy and increasing employment opportunities at the plant.
“Ultimately, what the expansion means is more convenient and faster access to technology for consumers in the Middle East and Africa and a boost in computing exports for one of the region’s largest countries,” said Ghandi.
As the Middle East’s largest technology and solutions provider, HP has also made significant human resources investments in the Kingdom. At the press conference, Ghandi explained that alongside the employment opportunities which would be created by the plant extension, HP is planning to commit a substantial number of its regional headcount to its offices in Saudi Arabia.
During the roundtable, Amr Hassan, GM, Imaging and Printing Group HP, Middle East, added that HP was rapidly expanding its on-the-ground resources and ramping up its market presence in the Kingdom, in order to take advantage of the growing market potential in Saudi Arabia. Significantly, Hassan announced the creation of a new position to oversee the imaging and printing business in Saudi Arabia.
“The objective of increasing our presence in Saudi Arabia is to interact more closely with our partners and customers, in order to continuously grow and strengthen our leadership in imaging and printing. Khaled Kamel, the new Saudi country manager, has been with HP since 2000 and was instrumental in the growth of the Gulf region. His latest challenge will see him managing one of the region’s largest and most diverse consumer portfolios across Saudi Arabia,” said Hassan.
Hassan pointed out that enhancing in-country resources was a strategic response to the increasing importance of Saudi Arabia and anticipated future growth within digital imaging. He said that new resources in the fields of retail, marketing and channel development had also been added to the Saudi team in order to meet the burgeoning consumer demand for up-to-the-minute digital imaging and printing technology.
HP’s interest in the Kingdom runs to more than simply providing, assembling or marketing technologies. An IT training course, only for women, sponsored by HP and developed by Saudi IT retailer eXtra has captured the imagination of women across Saudi Arabia with over 2,300 completing the program to date.
The scheme, which was launched in February, has seen HP experts guiding women through technology workshops on laptop and desktop computer literacy, digital photography, printing and scanning. Specifically targeting women with a largescale marketing campaign, the training program aims to address the demand from Saudi women to take full advantage of the latest consumer electronics products.
“At HP we believe that technology should empower people,” advised Hassan. “This training course was developed to help Saudi women take full advantage of the products available to them and the response from participants was extremely encouraging — there is a real demand from the Kingdom’s female population to get up-to-date information on the latest IT developments.”
The training courses tie in with HP’s “Printing in the Privacy of Your Home” campaign, a drive to encourage in-home photo printing in response to strong customer feedback.
“Privacy is a key social issue in Saudi Arabia and HP can help families enjoy ultimate privacy in printing and sharing images by educating people on the advantages of desktop photoprinters,” said Hassan.
As a result of the success of the training courses, eXtra has been able to attract a market segment not normally associated with consumer electronics.
“The number of participants in the training scheme has shown us the massive demand for technology among Saudi women,” said Usama Bukhari, marketing director, eXtra. “Our partnership with HP has resulted in a number of successful campaigns and programs, but the IT training course is certainly one of the most successful. We have engaged a key market segment and shared our IT knowledge, enabling Saudi women to make more informed buying decisions.”
