HP Outlines ME Strategy
Eric Cador, senior VP, HP Personal Systems Group (PSG) EMEA, recently visited the Middle East. Cador met with a number of HP Middle East partners and outlined his vision for the remainder of FY07, identifying Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries and Egypt as particularly strong opportunities for further growth for PSG. The tour was part of HP’s push within the Middle East, emphasizing the corporation’s commitment to the area. Cador’s visit comes a month after HP announced the impending redesignation of the HP EMEA framework starting May 1, 2007, with greater focus being placed on the Middle East.
“HP Middle East has experienced several successive strong quarters and has had a great start to FY07 for PSG,” said Cador. “At an EMEA level, we recognize the growing importance of the Middle East. Our Q107 figures demonstrated how strong the region is and we are keen to continue driving this forward.”
HP has announced that its revenues for the first quarter of 2007 were $25.1 billion, representing an 11 percent year-on-year growth. HP became the first IT company to record more than $10 billion in revenues in the EMEA region in a quarter. During the quarter, on a year-over-year basis, revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 14 percent to $10.7 billion.
HP’s PSG revenue grew 17 percent year-over-year to $8.7 billion, with unit shipments up 19 percent on a year-over-year basis. Notebook revenue grew 40 percent over the prior year period. Commercial client revenue grew eight percent year-over-year, while Consumer client revenue increased 28 percent. Operating profit was $414 million, or 4.7 percent of revenue, up from a profit of $293 million, or 3.9 percent of revenue, in the prior year period.
“The Gulf market continues to grow at an unparalleled pace and there are still significant growth opportunities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, particularly in the desktop and notebook segment,” Cador added. “The mobile revolution is an increasing fact of life world wide and while we believe Desktops will remain key in the corporate environment, the future in the consumer space will be mobile.”
PC Manufacturer Eyes Saudi Market
DTK Computer Middle East plans to boost its revenues by selling more of its PCs, notebooks and servers in Saudi Arabia. The company believes it must bolster its presence in the Saudi market because, according to Madar Research, total PC sales in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the period 2003-2008 will reach nearly seven million units, with Saudi Arabia accounting for more than half of the total with 3.75 million sales.
DTK sees the steady increase in demand for PCs in the Saudi Arabia as a good reason for DTK to maximize the reach of its value-for-money offerings in this market. Nimer Al-Attal, MD, DTK Computer Middle East, said that the company has introduced the Cruiser 5015 desktop PC, which retails at less than SR1,000 to help raise the PC penetration rate in the Kingdom.
“DTK has identified the areas that will hinder PC penetration in the Kingdom, particularly in the area of rising population, which will consequently require an increased production of PCs to sustain the high levels of computer penetration,” said Al-Attal. “We have prepared accordingly for these upcoming requirements and one of the initiatives DTK has implemented is increasing production of affordable fundamental technology platforms.”
BVS Appoints ME Distributor
Berkeley Varitronics Systems has appointed Advanced Technical Solution Marketing (ATSM) as its exclusive international distributor for BVS wireless test equipment in the Middle East region including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and the UAE. ATSM was established in Worcester, MA, USA, in 1997 to manage and coordinate promotion, sales, marketing, shipping and handling of electronic and networked related materials to the Middle East. George Aboody, ATSM’s principal, has over 25 years engineering, sales and marketing experience in the wire and cable and wireless business.
