HP to nurture e-commerce (CHINA)
MARK O'NEILL in Beijing
10/28/99
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On her first visit to the mainland since becoming chief executive of Hewlett-Packard (HP) in July, Carly Fiorina has expressed confidence that the country's Internet usage would catch up the United States within five years.
Ms Fiorina said HP would set up a research and development centre to help nurture the country's Internet-related industries.
Ms Fiorina is in the mainland on a two-day working visit with HP chairman Lewis Platt, to meet government leaders, customers, business partners and employees.
"Within five years, Asia will represent 23 per cent of global Internet usage. In that time, China will catch [up] with the US and other advanced countries," she said.
"We want to play an important part in this."
HP plans to set up the R&D centre for software technology and applications designed for the Internet as well as make use of the human talent in the mainland, she said.
It is discussing with the Ministry of Information Industry and other parties what the precise scope of the centre will be.
The mainland has about four million Internet users and e-commerce remains a new concept because of technical difficulties and customer uncertainties about the security of the system.
Ms Fiorina said HP's sales in the mainland would double within the next five years from the US$1 billion now. Its total annual sales are $47 billion.
"China is a very important market for HP. We have a very strong partnership with our customers and partners. [The] Internet is a very important development for China and HP, our commitment to China and investing here will not change. We will become a faster, more focused and more aggressive company," she said.
HP has a vision of "pervasive computing", wherein computing is a utility like water or electricity, reliable, secure and available, she said.
She briefed mainland reporters on the split, announced in March, of HP into two independent companies, one focused on computing and imaging, which will retain the HP name, and the other on communications and life science, which is called Agilent Technologies.
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