Last year, H-P sold more than $700 million of EMC equipment, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the overall revenue of EMC, the largest seller of stand-alone corporate storage-devices. Although an H-P/Hitachi alliance could threaten that revenue stream, EMC says it believes it can do even better without H-P.

An announcement of the new alliance is expected as early as Tuesday, according to an Hitachi executive. The move is widely expected by analysts, who say H-P warts to expand storage offerings in part because it is worried that as the equipment takes on more functions, it is displacing sales of H-P's bread-and-butter computer servers.

A spokeswoman for H-P, Palo Alto, California, said the company plans to hold a storage-related news conferenceTuesday, but declined to comment further.

Analysts anticipate that H-P sales will account for about $l billion of EMC's total estimated 1999 revenue of about $5.1 billion. In January, the two companies agreed to extend their relationship for three years.

EMC's stock closed Monday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at $107, down $1.975. By late Tuesday morning, the shares were down an additional 9.4%, or 0.0625, at 9,96.9375.

H-P's new focus on storage comes at a time when the Internet and the explosion of digital data has cranked up demand for sophisticated storage devices. Many storage boxes now help manage data, backup files and perform other functions that were just a few years ago done solely by computer servers.

But EMC, Hopkinton, Massachusetts, says it has been preparing for the possible cessation on the H-P agreement. Robert M. Dutkowsky, EMC's head of sales and marketing, says EMC has been bulking up its sales force, and that the company believes it can more than make up the revenuecurrently generated together with H-P.

Under the current agreement, H-P gets a cut of EMC devices sold to customers that use H-P computers. That agreement was set up in 1995 at a time when EMC was looking for partners to help it sell its computer storage to big corporate customers.

Since then, EMC's sales have taken off, improving brand recognition. Some EMC salespersons have argued that they could sell more gear to H-P customers unencumbered by the H-P agreement, which usually results in a higher sales price to the customer.

EMC isn't permitted under the terms of the agreement to sell directly to H-P customers, but could -- and would -- do so if H-P strikes a far-reaching deal with Hitachi Data Systems. "Customers that have H-P servers are going to buy EMC storage in 1999 and beyond," says Mr. Dutkowsky.

The move could provide a boost to Hitachi Data Systems, a unit of Hitachi Ltd. of Japan. The company has been losing market share in recent years to competitors such as International BusinessMachines Corp. and EMC.

In 1998, Hitachi Data Systems' share of the $30 billion world-wide market for storage systems was under 2%, according to International Data Corp., a research house. One person familiar with the matter said Hitachi Data Systems, based in Santa Clara, California, has agreed to dedicate about 10 salespeople to work with H-P.

Executives at H-P have been looking to restructure the EMC reseller agreement for some time, EMC says. Mr. Dutkowsky says H-P has long been in favor of an original equipment manufacturer deal, under which EMC would make storage devices for H-P, which could be sold under the H-P name and serviced by H-P employees. As recently as a few months ago, H-P has asked EMC to consider an original equipment manufacturer agreement, but EMC has rejected the idea, Mr. Dutkowsky says.

Also Tuesday, EMC planned to announce that Harold R. Dixon has been appointed to the new position of senior vice president of global sales and services. Mr. Dixon previously headed EMC's NorthAmerican sales force.

(The Asian Wall Street Journal)