HP chalks out ambitious plans for India

agencyfaqs! News Bureau,

NEW DELHI

Hewlett-Packard India (HP), a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based Hewlett-Packard Company, has ambitious plans for India. Topmost on the agenda is to start manufacturing servers at its PC plant in Bangalore. "Local manufacturing plays a pivotal role in faster delivery of products to the market and customer-configured computing solutions," said V Krishnan, general manager, of the company's marketing department.

"It also allows HP the advantage of efficient demand and capacity planning, thereby effecting a substantial price differential for the customer," he said. HP has invested close to $ 6 million in its Bangalore plant, which currently manufactures personal computers.

According to Krishnan, the total server market in India this year is expected to touch 30,000 units. The company hopes to manufacture 1,000 servers a month in its Bangalore facility. The company also plans to start manufacturing notebook computers in India soon, confirmed Krishnan.

To get its plans off the ground, the company has lined up an investment of $3 million over the next couple of years. The focus would be to improve the supplier's base in India. That is because HP hopes to source between 75 per cent and 80 per cent

of the components for its machines locally. HP is also scouting for a new site for setting up another manufacturing unit in India.

The company brass believes that the prices of servers are set to crash within five months. The company, therefore, plans to reduce costs faster than its competitors. A company executive pointed out, "Prices are dropping fast and from the current level of Rs 100,000 ($ 2,300), it will fall to about Rs 60,000."

The company, which has notched up an average of 59 per cent growth during the last six years, has priced HP NetServer E 200 at Rs 78,000.

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