HP India eyes small business segment in state

Hewlett-Packard, world's second largest computer maker, is eyeing the small business segments in the state, which is poised to emerge as one of the major investment destinations in the Information Technology (IT) sector.

“IT penetration in Orissa has been encouraging. Acceptance towards adoption of technology among the small business units is also booming,” the company said.

“To reach out to our customers, HP would continue expanding to Class B and Class C cities with channel partners,” said Mandeep Gupta, Country Category Manager, Imaging and Printing Group. “Orissa is a significant market for us as the state is growing as an IT destination that is evident from the government’s investment in developing new IT parks in the state,” he added.

Meanwhile, HP launched its new range of monochrome and colour laser printers for small office home office (SOHO) and small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Orissa. HP LaserJet Pro P1108, priced at Rs 6,599, is touted as energy efficient, high speed and hassle free printer.

HP is the market leader in ink jet and laser jet printers in India. Fifty per cent of the business for the company comes from non-metro centres with the SMB segment growing strongly.

India has a base of about 35 million SMBs growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4 per cent. These units are now investing more in upgrading their IT infrastructure. “We have a strong service network of 170 locations in 163 cities with 1,800 outlets for consumers,” Gupta added.

Presently, the company is having four service centres in Orissa, two in Bhubaneswar and one each in Sambalpur and Berhampur.