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Technology Stocks : HWP -- Hewlett Packard -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerry Ginz who wrote (1908)	3/3/1998 5:19:00 PM
From: Charles Tutt	Respond to of 4722

Interesting. I wonder if "$10,000 and up" will be a price point of any interest in the workstation market by the time Merced arrives. JMHO.

To: Jerry Ginz who wrote (1908)	3/4/1998 3:32:00 PM
From: Javelyn Bjoli	Respond to of 4722

HP to focus on the Net March 4, 1998 Hewlett-Packard Co. is about to unveil a sweeping strategic initiative aimed at focusing all of the $42 billion company's diverse products and services on the Internet. Called Electronic World, the strategy is an attempt to move HP (HWP) from the increasingly commoditized hardware arena into what company executives call the "sweet spot of the market," which combines Internet hardware and software products and services into a higher-margin mix. The four-part plan puts HP more directly in competition with fellow technology giants Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) and IBM (IBM). "The criticism of HP has been that we're a collection of interesting computer companies bundled under one umbrella," said Glenn Osaka, vice president of the electronic commerce business units. "This is a framework so our field organization can understand and tell people how all the things we do fit into an overall, cohesive strategy. This is what we've been lacking. " Though HP remains profitable, reduced margins on its commodity products, such as printers, have caused the company to miss analysts' estimates on earnings by a few cents for the past two quarters. In its most recent quarter, ended Feb. 17, HP posted income of $929 million, or 86 cents per share, on revenue of $11.8 billion. HP's plan will be unveiled publicly by Chief Executive Officer Lew Platt, during his keynote at Internet World in Los Angeles on March 11. The Electronic World strategy, intended to show customers how HP products and services fit into a corporate Internet scheme, starts with what HP calls the Extended Enterprise Infrastructure. That covers the software and hardware needed by telephone companies and Internet service providers to run networks that use Internet protocols. Next comes E-Business. HP is unabashedly using the same term IBM has trademarked, though HP uses an uppercase "e". E-Business encompasses the services and enterprise software integration needed to help large corporations establish electronic commerce systems, extranets and intranets. "IBM is doing a good job of defining [the e-business] space, spending a pile of money to educate the market," said Bill Murphy, HP's director of Internet marketing, who fashioned the strategy into a plan for the sales staff. "What IBM is doing reinforced our belief that this is the right thing to do. What customers want are solutions - an explanation of how our products can help them in their business." HP said its E-Business strategy relies more on third-party software than HP's and, unlike IBM, HP does not maintain that it can provide all the pieces a customer may need. "HP has to say that because they're not really a software company. They have hardware, and some services, but they have to partner to get a solution, while we have software that provides a lot of the pieces," said Karl Salnoske, general manager of IBM's electronic commerce division. The third part of the strategy falls under the heading of E-Consumer. This is HP's attempt to capture the market for consumer Internet appliances, such as digital cameras that connect via infrared with a printer. The final piece of the puzzle is E-Commerce, which centers on electronic payment over the Net using software from VeriFone Inc., the credit-card payment company HP purchased last year for $1.5 billion. As envisioned by HP, Electronic World's pieces will give HP's sales force an integrated set of products. Analysts said the strategy makes sense. "A cohesive approach is the right thing to do, and their focus on electronic business leverages their strengths, " said Judith Hurwitz, president of the Hurwitz Group, a technology analysis firm. HP can be reached at www.hp.com <<Inter@ctive Week -- 03-02-98>>