Dell (the company) isn't about creating new markets and bringing new products from R&D to the market. It's about taking products that are starting to reach the "commoditization" stage and selling them much cheaper than anyone else.
Dave, I completely agree for PC's but the printer market is a far cry from PC's where the real R&D is already done by Intel and Microsoft. PC's are truly commodities with no value-added beyond that done by component manufacturers which is available to anyone and I would hope HP is not spending any R&D on PC's. Dell's value-added is distribution cost which should work well for any commodity, but I don't believe printers are anywhere near that status especially with the rapid evolution of digital imaging. Remember also that HP makes most of its profit in the cartridge business and the printers themselves are already sold at low if not breakeven margins. The trick for Dell (or anyone else for that matter) is how to break into HP's well-established low-margin box business and then leverage high volumes of cartridges compared to HP's huge installed base? Not an easy problem to solve!
BTW, I doubt that HP views the PC business as being much more than a facilitator of their printer business. If the whole business vanished overnight, HP's profit would probably go up! Just because we all have PC's, we might like to think that they are important to HP's business, but in fact they are probably not.
Servers is a totally different issue, is nowhere near commodity status (see press release below) and is probably one of the key reasons they bought CPQ (i.e. not for PC's).
HP Superdome Server Sets World Records in Two Key Performance Areas; Competition Noticeably Absent as HP Extends Performance Leadership with New OLTP and Data Warehousing Results
PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug 26, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced record-breaking online transaction processing (OLTP) and data warehousing benchmark results on its HP Superdome server running 64 PA-8700+ processors, the HP-UX 11i operating system and HP StorageWorks VA7100 disk arrays.
HP now holds the distinction of being the only high-end server vendor in the industry to publish both single-system Oracle TPC-C(1) (OLTP) and TPC-H 3 terabyte(2) benchmarks, clearly demonstrating the HP Superdome server's outstanding performance and value. These results mark the next step towards HP's goal of doubling the server's performance by 2003.
The following results establish a world-leading position for both OLTP and data warehousing performance:
OLTP Data warehousing --------------- ----------------------- TPC-C TPC-H (3 TB) --------------- ----------------------- HP Superdome 423,414 tpmC 27,094 QphH @ @$15.64/tpmC(1) $222/QphH(2) Sun SunFire 15K No published 23,813 QphH @ result(4) $215/QphH(2) IBM p690 403,255 tpmC Regatta @$17.80/tpmC(1) No published result(4)
"Any company can publish a good result for a single benchmark, but publishing world record benchmarks across several workloads tests the limits of a server," said Mark Hudson, worldwide marketing manager, HP Business Critical Systems. "The fact that neither IBM nor Sun have published both benchmarks raises serious questions about the abilities of their high-end servers to deliver strong performance across varied workloads."
HP Superdome Server Breaks Online Transaction Processing Record
The HP Superdome server set a new world record for single-system Oracle-based TPC-C with a result of 423,414 tpmC at $15.64/tpmC (transactions per minute).(1) TPC-C simulates a complete computing environment in which a population of users executes transactions against a database. In addition to its performance leadership, the HP Superdome server delivers a lower cost per transaction with a 12 percent price/performance advantage over the IBM p690 server.
"The advantage of open systems is that vendors such as HP and Oracle can actively compete to deliver superior performance to their customers," said Richard Sarwal, vice president of server performance, Oracle Corporation. "HP's benchmark results demonstrate to customers that Oracle and open systems can deliver both superior performance and cost savings versus the competition."
Outperforming All Competitors' Data Warehousing Solutions in TPC-H 3 TB Benchmark
TPC-H simulates decision support systems that examine large volumes of data, execute queries with a high degree of complexity and give answers to critical business questions. The HP Superdome server result of 27,094 QphH (queries per hour) for a 64-processor system is 14 percent faster than Sun's 72-processor result for the SunFire 15K(2) and establishes a 28 percent performance advantage on a processor-by-processor basis.
The HP Superdome server also was able to outperform the NCR/Teradata Worldmark system, a dedicated data warehousing server with 128-processors, by 44 percent in raw performance, 195 percent in per processor performance and with four times better price/performance.(2)
In addition to demonstrating the power and scalability of HP Superdome servers and the HP-UX 11i operating system, these benchmarks illustrate the excellent performance and price/performance value of HP StorageWorks VA7100 disk arrays.
Applications Run Faster Across the Board
"When evaluating enterprise servers, it's essential to consider performance across multiple applications and varied workloads. Too often vendors cherry-pick just one or two favorable results," said Jonathan Eunice, principal analyst and IT advisor, Illuminata, Inc. "HP's latest Superdome numbers are impressive because they stress multiple dimensions and show first-rate performance on every one."
Today's record performance results add to the growing list of world records the HP Superdome server already holds. Whether using Web-based applications, enterprise-wide solutions, business intelligence or simple transaction processing, customers can expect faster response and higher value from their investments with HP Superdome servers, relative to IBM p690 and Sun SunFire 15K servers, as illustrated on the table below.
OLTP Data warehousing ERP Java --------- -------------------- --------- ---------- TPC-C TPC-H TPC-H SAP-ATO Spec- on (1 TB)(2) (3 TB)(2) 3-Tier(3) JBB2000(5) Oracle(1) --------- -------------------- --------- ---------- HP Superdome 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st Sun SunFire15K no 2nd 2nd no 2nd result(4) result(4) IBM p690 2nd no no no 3rd result(4) result(4) result(4)
"The superior performance and scalability of HP Superdome servers enable us to handle the increases in transaction volumes as we grow our business, while the improved price/performance of the PA-8700+ processors delivers a greater return on our investment," said Alejandro Bombaci, chief information office, Empresas Polar. "We've just deployed two new 64-way Superdome servers with 56 processors each at the heart of our IT infrastructure and HP's commitment to continuous performance improvements provides us with a rock-solid platform and unparalleled investment protection. We especially like the in-box upgradability to future Itanium and PA-RISC processors."
Investment Protection and Multiple Operating Environments
Today's announcement is the latest step in a series of significant, in-chassis performance improvements and processor upgrades planned when the HP Superdome server was first launched. Superdome servers will be upgradeable to future generations of PA-RISC as well as to the Intel(R) Itanium(R) processor family, allowing for multiple operating environments to coexist in a single Superdome server.
To date, the Superdome server has successfully booted HP-UX, Windows .Net and Linux on a single server running multiple operating environments simultaneously in separate partitions at HP's development facilities. HP is also on track to boot OpenVMS on an Itanium-based system by the end of the year.
About HP
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its merger transaction involving Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. The company would have had combined revenue on a pro forma basis with the Compaq transaction of approximately $81.1 billion in fiscal 2001 and has operations in more than 160 countries. More information about HP is available at hp.
(1) Single-system, Oracle-based TPC-C: HP Superdome, 423,414 tpmC, $15.64/tpmC, availability date Aug. 26, 2002. IBM p690, 403,255 tpmC, $17.80/tpmC, availability date Nov. 22, 2002. Additional information is available at tpc.
(2) TPC-H: HP Superdome, 64 processors, Oracle 9i R2, 27,094 QphH, $222/QphH at 3,000 GB, available Oct. 30, 2002.
HP Superdome, 64 processors, Oracle 9i Database Enterprise Edition 9.0.1.1, 25,805 QphH, $213/QphH at 1,000 GB, available Oct. 30, 2002.
Sun Fire 15K, 72 processors, Oracle 9i R2, 23,813 QphH, $215/QphH at 3,000 GB, available Oct. 30, 2002.
Sun Fire 15K, 72 processors, Oracle 9i Database Enterprise Edition, 18,802 QphH, $227/QphH at 1,000 GB, available July 17, 2002.
NCR WorldMark 5250, 128 processors, Teradata V2R4.1, 18,803 QphH, $989/QphH at 3,000 GB, available July 27, 2001.
(3) HP Superdome 64 processors PA-8700 750MHz 2.25 MB L1 cache, 128 GB memory, SAP R/3 4.6C, 3-tier, 144,090 fully business processed assembly orders per hour, Oracle 9i, HP-UX 11i, certified Jan. 17, 2002.
(4) No published result as of Aug. 26, 2002.
(5) Competitive numbers shown reflect results published on spec as of Aug. 26, 2002. For the latest SPECjbb2000 results visit spec.
The SAP Assemble-to-Order (SAP ATO) benchmark referenced in this document is fully compliant with the SAP Benchmark Council's benchmark rules and has been audited and certified by SAP. More information on SAP benchmarks is available at sap.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's annual report on Form 10-K, as amended on January 30, 2002, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2001, HP's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2002 (as filed with the SEC on March 12, 2002) and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
Note to Editors: Oracle is a registered U.S. trademark of Oracle Corp., Redwood City, Calif. Java is a U.S. trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
CONTACT: HP Brian Garabedian, 408/285-9278 brian.garabedian@hp.com or The Hoffman Agency for HP Michelle Leach, 408/975-3027 mleach@hoffman.com
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