A few good words about iPaq sales.
Vendors Push Small, Non-Legacy PCs -- HP And Compaq Count On Reliability And
Lower Cost Of Ownership To Entice Customers
Feb. 25, 2000 (InformationWeek - CMP via COMTEX) -- Hewlett-Packard
last week became the second major computer maker this year to ship a
slimmed-down business PC that emphasizes hassle-free maintenance and a
nearly legacy-free design over expandability. Compaq shipped its entry,
the iPaq, at the end of January.
It's still unclear how interested business users are in these
products. Analysts say they expect these systems' lower cost of
ownership and ease of maintenance to make the devices attractive to the
business market. "The legacy-free factor is going to be hot," says
Gartner Group analyst Kevin Knox, who expects these types of systems to
account for 60% to 65% of corporate PC sales by 2002.
Though neither Compaq nor HP disclosed its customers for these
systems, Compaq says it has taken thousands of orders for the iPaq on
its Web site, with some customers ordering hundreds of systems. HP says
it has had early versions of its e-Vectra in place at 20 companies.
But Knox also warns that manufacturers' insistence on marketing
legacy-free computers as Internet or E-business devices may needlessly
alienate some customers, who may assume the systems are too specialized
for a range of business tasks. "The tendency to put an 'E' spin on
everything may scare off users who simply want a reliable corporate
PC," he says.
HP officials say the e-Vectra, about a quarter the size of a typical
desktop computer, is just that-a reliable PC for business. The e-Vectra
offers the full power of a traditional desktop PC and includes some
legacy features, such as parallel, serial, and PS/2 ports. "We find
that corporate users still require a mix of legacy and nonlegacy," says
Michael Cade, HP's Vectra brand manager.
Available processors range from a 500-MHz Intel Celeron to a 667-MHz
Pentium III. An extractable 8.4-Gbyte hard drive is standard, and users
can select either 64 Mbytes, 128 Mbytes, or 256 Mbytes of SDRAM. The
e-Vectra also includes HP's TopTools device-management application and
comes with Microsoft's Windows 98 or Windows 2000 preloaded.
Prices start at $549 for a Celeron unit. Compaq's legacy-reduced
version of the iPaq, which retains parallel and serial ports, has the
same list price; the vendor also offers a legacy-free system for $499.
Meanwhile, IBM has indicated it will begin selling similar devices in
the second quarter.
iweek.com
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By: Paul McDougall
Copyright 2000 CMP Media Inc. |
