School Corner

Faced with mounting troubles , HP is working on a two-pronged 'R' strategy — restructuring of workforce and realignment and strengthening of product portfolio — to stem the profit decline and keep competition at bay.

HP merged its Imaging & Printer Group and Personal Systems Group into a new unit — Printing and Personal Systems Group — to streamline supply chain and cut costs. Taking the merger of PC and printer units to the implementation level, HP lined up bouquet of products, ranging from ultrabooks , sleekbooks to mobile all-in-one printers, at its first Global Influencer Summit held in Shanghai recently.

In an interview to TOI,Rajiv Srivastava, VP and GM, Printers and Personal Systems Group (PPS),HP India, spoke about staff restructuring in India, investments in R&D and outlook going forward.

HP announced plans to lay off 27000 people globally. Will it impact India staff?

We have not yet announced specific plans with regards to specific locations. We do expect the workforce reduction to impact just about every business and region.

Global economy is sluggish and growth in emerging markets seems to be tapering off. Why is HP so bullish that it has launched 80 products across segments?

We feel that the industry is at an inflection point, where the future of Hewlett-Packard will be shaped by the consumerization of IT phenomenon that simultaneously plays to the company's strengths in both the enterprise and consumer technology markets.IDC estimates that 346.2 million PCs were sold last year and the PC market will grow 9.3% year-over-year in 2012. That is a market with potential. Less than 18% of world's population uses a PC, and as PC usage continues to proliferate to more than 2 billion people in next three years; and research indicates that the majority of this growth will come from rapidly developing countries.

What are your investment plans in R&D?

As Meg Whitman, CEO of HP, pointed out, HP will increase its long-term investment in R&D to help spur new products and services, as well as reaffirming its commitment to the mobility market, including tablets . We spent $3.2 billion on R&D in 2011, up from $2.9 billion the year before. In 2012, we have increased the amount of money we spend in R&D significantly and we plan to continue doing so over the next few years.

How will recent product portfolio strengthening help HP's growth in India?

It would be too early for us to share figures, but looking at response so far, we are certain that the products will definitely help us emerge as a dominant player in the market. We are market leaders in printing business and in consumer PC business in India , with our new range of solutions , aimed at helping our enterprise customers achieve business efficiency.