With Asia making a rebound, there is cause for optimism.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) Tuesday introduced a new set of high-powered business computers, refreshing a key product line, which its chief executive said will help the company meet its double-digit revenue growth goals for 1999.
At a press conference held at the New York Stock Exchange, Chairman and Chief Executive Lewis Platt said Hewlett-Packard was now seeing a recovery in Asia, helping to ensure that growth in the current quarter and year remains on track.
''What we are seeing is a recovery in Asia. Every month we are seeing a sequential recovery in order growth,'' Platt said in response to a reporter's question.
The Palo Alto-based company, the world's second-largest computer maker in terms of revenue, has been struggling to boost the paltry revenue growth reported in recent quarters.
In the first quarter ended in January, revenues grew only 1 percent companywide, far below the high single-digit growth of rival International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) and the strong double-digit growth of Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW - news)
''Indeed, it appears that it will be,'' Platt said in response to a reporter's question about how revenue growth for the second quarter ending in April compared to its fiscal first quarter.
''We look on plan,'' he said, noting the company's was three-quarters of the way through its quarter.
Platt stressed that financial results were expected to be ''back-end loaded,'' meaning that growth in the second half of 1999 would be stronger than in the first half.
But Platt said that growth across key businesses, including printers, personal computers and business computers, known as servers, are expected to once again propel the company to levels rivaling its competitors.
He reiterated the company's goal of double-digit, or better than 10 percent, revenue growth for the fiscal year ending in October 1999. ''We still think there's a pretty good chance at double-digit growth,'' Platt said.
Later today, the company will introduce its new generation of high-powered business computers designed to run both on its own UNIX computer chips and a new category of computer chip it is co-developing with Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC - news)
The company's new N-class machines represent the high-volume part of Hewlett's server business computer product line-up, and constitute about 60 percent of its server revenues. This business represents roughly one-third of Hewlett-Packard's total fiscal 1998 revenues of $47 billion.
H-P officials said they will present benchmark tests that show their new N-class mid-range business computers outperforming by a factor of two competing products from arch-rivals Sun Microsystems and IBM.
Platt acknowledged that in recent years his company's business computer line-up had been competitive but with little to distinguish itself from competitors.
''Frankly, we have been much more in the pack than we have been ahead of the pack,'' Platt said. ''Now this product will help us step out ahead again,'' he said of the new servers, which are designed to perform especially well on the Internet.
By mid-morning, Hewlett-Packard rose $2 to $70.25 in active New York Stock Exchange trading.
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