Date:23/02/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/02/23/stories/2005022301851000.htm

Back `Fiorina's exit will not affect HP India strategy'

Our Bureau

Mr Philip Devlin (left), Manager, Product Marketing Mobile Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific and Japan, and Mr Ravi Swaminathan, Vice-President, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett Packard India Pvt Ltd, at a press conference in the Capital on Tuesday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , Feb. 22

HP India on Tuesday said the recent exit of Ms Carly Fiorina as its parent's Chairperson and Chief Executive would not affect the company's strategy in India.

"It will have no impact on the India or global strategy," Mr Ravi Swaminathan, Vice-President, Personal Systems Group, HP India, told presspersons on the sidelines of a conference here to announce the company's new line up of business notebooks.

It may be recalled that earlier this month Ms Fiorina had stepped down from the post of chairperson and CEO of Hewlett Packard after nearly six years at the helm, even as its CFO, Mr Robert P. Wayman, was named CEO on an interim basis.

Meanwhile, the company has introduced its most expensive and secure line- up of business notebooks in the country. The four different series of business notebooks and tablet PCs — the HP Compaq 8200, 6200, 6100 and 4200 series incorporate the Intel Centrino Mobile Technology based on Mobile Intel 915 Express Chipset. These are targeted at professionals and small and medium businesses and have been priced in the range of Rs 49,990 to Rs 1.5 lakh depending on configuration.

"With security being topmost on the minds of businesses in India, HP aims to be the market forerunner with business notebooks that include an array of built-in security hardware and software features, helping our customers protect their devices, business critical data and networks," Mr Swaminathan said.

HP ProtectTools-embedded security chip authenticates the user before the operating system loads.

This advanced firmware security complements other features such as Smart Card pre-boot authentication and DriveLock hard drive protection to protect against unauthorised access to the notebook and user data stored on the hard drive — even in cases where the hard drive is removed and access is attempted using another PC.

"We are currently the leaders in the portables market in India with 34 per cent share. With the new series, we hope to consolidate this share as India is among the major markets for HP," he added.

HP has designed its Mobile Data Protection System to help lower the risk of data corruption by protecting the hard drive from the shocks and vibration of mobile use.

The notebooks also feature a scuff- and scratch-resistant moulding and its HP Panel Protection System helps protect the display from damage while closed.