New Delhi : Identifying colour as a key driver of growth, Hewlett-Packard India Ltd (HPI) has set a target of 100 per cent growth for its colour printer business in India in 2001. Colour printers are projected to account for around three per cent of the total one lakh laser printer sales in 2001.``An increasing percentage of our business is coming from colour laser printers,'' says Mr Todd A Birzer, AP sales and development manager, imaging and printing systems, Asia Pacific Region, Hewlett-Packard Far East Pte Ltd. ``In the next three years, we expect 50 per cent of our networked product revenues to come from colour-specific products (scanners, inkjets and laser printers).''
According to Mr Birzer, HPI has increased its share of the colour laser printer market from around 45 per cent in 1998 to around 61 per cent in 2000 in India. During the same period, HP increased its share of the Asia Pacific market from 42 per cent to 58 per cent.
Beginning with roadshows in Delhi and Mumbai under the theme of `Colour for Competitive Advantage' targeted at sales and marketing execs, HPI plans to organise five seminars a year under the umbrella of `Colour and Office'. To bring focus to marketing, HPI has divided operations between two divisions: the business customer sales organisation will manage products like colour laser printer while consumer business organisation will handle products like inkjets.
HPI expects falling prices - prices have already halved in the last two years - to bring more buyers from middle and large corporations (with over 500 employees). HPI has around a dozen laser printers, priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 80,000; and half a dozen colour laser printer, priced between Rs 1.3 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.
HPI's focus will be to consolidate its distribution network - comprising three distributors and over 1,000 resellers - and enhance penetration in the 3,000 units-a-year colour printer market by pursuing a three-fold approach: organise at least one seminar a quarter under the umbrella of `Colour and Office'; initiate network printing seminars to encourage sharing of laser printers among different division; and educating the end users on issues like total cost of ownership of a HP printer. The company will focus on cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai, which account for over 60 per cent of sales.
Copyright © 2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
