HP targets 25,000 retail stores by 2010

HONG KONG — Short of declaring retail domination by 2010, HP announced aggressive plans to have 25,000 retail partner stores across the Asia-Pacific in two years, a feat designed to make it more convenient for consumers to experience and buy HP products.

HP is strengthening its existing retail footprint of 17,500 stores by setting up an additional 7,500 outlets that will cover 1,000 cities over the next two years. The majority of the new retail partner stores will be located in the key growth markets of China, India and Southeast Asia (SEA).

Of the 25,000 outlets, 200 will be HP Experience Stores, a new retail concept aimed at further enhancing consumer experience during different stages of shopping for new HP PCs and printers.

By the end of 2008, HP targets to open 100 of these partner-owned HP Experience Stores, with the next 100 to open by end of 2009. In the Philippines, an HP Experience Store is planned to open in one of the major malls.

“At the HP Experience Stores our products will be screaming at you when you enter. People will be able to touch our products unlike in many computer stores today where buyers are not allowed to hold the units as they are usually wrapped and kept in boxes,” said See Chin Teik, senior vice president for Personal Systems Group of HP Asia-Pacific and Japan, during an interview with the regional press.

See promised an improved in-store experience that will make it easier and more intuitive for consumers to find, compare, learn about and purchase HP products and solutions. With the help of specially trained in-store promoters, HP will showcase “experience zones” for mobility, digital entertainment, digital photography and gaming with live products and interactive demos.

“We are reaching out to IT consumers in a way no other companies can,” said Chris Morgan, senior vice president for HP Imaging and Printing Group in the Asia-Pacific and Japan. “We want our stores to make the user experience simple, rewarding and responsive to their changing needs. We put emphasis on style and ease of use, mobility, total care and environmental responsibility.”

The HP Experience Store is a joint project of HP’s two business units — the Personal Systems Group and the Imaging and Printing Group.

Fun and fashion stores

The retail expansion program will also see the establishment of unique HP Alternate Experience Centers that target non-traditional stores for IT products such as fashion boutiques, gaming cafés, and photo retail centers. It’s HP’s strategy to tap specific markets of women and youth who frequent shops catering to their specific interests, hobbies and lifestyles.

“HP understands that consumers today value personalized experiences. The HP Alternate Experience Centers will drive deeper engagement with consumers by assimilating technology with lifestyle interests,” See said.

To carry out the HP Alternate Experience Center concept the company has partnered with international fashion designer Vivienne Tam and game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) Inc.

HP’s collaboration with Tam resulted in a special edition notebook PC that will be sold only at Vivienne Tam boutiques and corners in select Asia-Pacific countries starting early next year. Tam worked with HP to design the notebook’s accessories and packaging. The notebook has a glossy red finish with peony flowers. The peony design, meticulously carried inside the notebook, was inspired by Vivienne Tam’s China Chic style. Her HP notebook features a complementary embroidered carrying case. HP officials, however, declined to elaborate on the specs of the Vivienne Tam notebook.

The EA partnership, meanwhile, made possible the world’s first EA Experience store at The Peak in Hong Kong. Outfitted with HP desktops and notebooks with EA games installed, the EA Experience store provides a unique experience for gamers to play on high-performance HP machines and to create personalized game-related images and memorabilia that can be printed on HP printers.

Total Care program

Last week’s consumer launch in Hong Kong also had HP extending its Total Care program from enterprise customers to commercial consumers. The HP Total Care program provides expert help at every stage of a consumer’s HP product experience: from making a buying decision, installing new equipment, safeguarding data to retiring outdated machines or recovering lost equipment.

The HP Total Care program includes a wide range of value-added services such as setting up and updating preloaded software, PC tune-up service, PC tracing and data security, See said. One example is HP Instant Care where HP’s experienced support experts connect to customers’ PCs to fix printers’ issues remotely or HP’s Notebook Tracing Service which helps consumers trace the location of their lost notebooks.

New products

HP’s “Big Bang” event paraded a long line of new personal computing and printing solutions plus its latest solution for the retail industry: the HP rp3000 Point of Sale (POS) Solution.

Among the products launched are:

• The HP HDX 900 Desktop PC, the 16-inch HP HDX16 Premium Series Notebook PC, and the 18.4-inch HP HDX18 Premium Series Notebook PC;

• Four new HP Imprints for entertainment notebook PCs;

• The HP TouchSmart IQ800 series PC with 25.5-inch full high-definition 1080p touch screen, a new wall mount display option, a Blu-ray DVD player and a Mini HP Pocket Media Drive (PMD) slot.

• The HP Photosmart C4580, C6380 and C5380 printers with built-in wireless capability and optional Bluetooth accessories;

• HP Photosmart C4599 All-in-One, also with built-in wireless capability;

• The HP five-ink printing technology for the new HP Photosmart D5460, C5380 and C6380 printers. This technology features Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Pigment Black and Photo Black dye-ink available in “Extra Large” cartridges; and

• The HP Photosmart Essential software with improved user interface and updated functionality.

The new HDX range of products are designed for multimedia entertainment, gaming and digital content and intensive graphic work creation and is HP’s follow-up to its HP HDX 20-inch Premium Series Notebook PC (aka “the Dragon”) launched nine months ago.

“The HDX 900 is in the high-end of our consumer range. It’s designed to stand up as an aspiration product. The notion that the market only goes for price is not true. What’s important (to consumers) is a digital reliable system that saves them valuable time. High-end machines like the HDX 900 protect users’ digital assets and processes what they need to do quickly,” See said.

The new touch-enabled, all-in-one HP TouchSmart IQ800 series PC, on the other hand, is positioned as a digital home entertainment unit that seeks to transform the way users interact with a computer.

“The TouchSmart can be the center of the living room as a family PC and as the single source of every person’s entertainment and computing needs,” said Hwee Koon Chua, HP Asia-Pacific and Japan vice president for Consumer PC and Handheld, Personal Systems Group. “It will have a staggered launch in different countries and will start selling at $1,799, depending on the configuration,” she added.

As for design highlights, Hon Cheng Chin, vice president of HP’s Notebook Business Unit, Personal Systems Group in the Asia-Pacific and Japan, noted that it all boils down to security, reliability and ease of use. “We use magnesium alloy for the chassis and material like iodized aluminum that is commonly used for aircraft. We also used honeycomb design under the notebook cover to make it durable. We also use lots of silver because any other color would be yesterday’s color,” Chin said.

The consumer launch didn’t include updates on the HP MiniNote. Replying to questions about HP’s possible use of another processor for the MiniNote, See said, “We’d like consumers to buy it because it’s HP and that it can offer a complete experience. The MiniNote is designed for professionals. It’s neither a plastic nor a toy. We find that it’s a different and interesting category and we hope people buy it because it’s HP and not worry about what’s inside.”

See said sales of the MiniNote are doing well in both commercial and business markets. It is positioned not on price points but as a complementary product, he added.

HP gone green

HP also used last week’s consumer launch to showcase its latest efforts to become environment-friendly. Positioning the new products as smart environmental choices, it unveiled a new HP EcoHighlights label to help customers understand the environmental attributes of a specific product, tool or service. The new HP Eco Highlights labels are found on the HP Photosmart printers — the C4580, C5380 and C6380.

In terms of products, the new HP dc7900 business desktop PC, for example, helps reduce operating costs through improved power saving technology, including new processors and an 85 percent efficient power supply. For printers, the Eco Highlights also applies in several models like the HP Officejet J4660 All-in-One which uses less than one watt of energy while in off-mode and has cartridges made from 50-percent recycled plastic. It has a 40 percent less power consumption rating, just like the HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One that also supports 100 percent recycled paper.

Morgan said HP has so far recycled one billion pounds of plastic used for computer hardware and printing supplies. The company aims to recover two billion pounds of electronic waste by the end of 2010.