Rising notebooks, setting desktops

Rob Kingston, group manager of commercial product marketing for the HP Personal Systems Group, said: “Looking at the overall IT market, we are seeing a robust [notebook and PC] market, with no slowdown in the channel. Some analysts are saying the desktop market is flat, but we are seeing that sector doing well.

“There has been strong uptake in the notebook business and we are seeing a small shift towards notebooks from desktops.”

Kingston highlighted that the majority of HP’s business goes through the channel and said there is a huge opportunity in the notebook and SMB spaces for the reseller community.

“The enterprise market is often about price, but the SMB space allows a value-add solution and resellers can make better margins. Resellers need to listen to customers and focus on the benefits for the customers and understand the customer’s
business requirements.”

Kingston said the majority of the value-add in the desktop space is around managed services and taking the pain away for the SMBs who don’t have the skills to manage their own infrastructure.

“There is still a place for the desktop, but if you were going to look at the solutions that will replace desktops you could suggest Citrix and thin computing. The transition towards notebooks is for the mobile workforce and employees being able to work 24/7,” added Kingston. “Overall, the market’s products are moving towards faster, better and smaller. For desktops it is all about virtualisation, with VMware growing 200 percent year-on-year. For HP our focus is on notebooks, thin clients and the education space.”

Matthew Tumminello, A/NZ product marketing manager at Toshiba, is firmly in the notebook camp and said the vendor has been heavily investing into notebook technology in recognition that people want more mobility from life and work.

“We introduced the world’s first industry standard notebook in 1985 and today, notebooks are fast becoming a strong substitute for desktop PCs. After years of targeting business users only, the notebook is now also the consumer’s “personal computing” tool of choice – outselling desktops three to one in the consumer market,” he said.

“Desktop PCs are less relevant in a world that is more networked, connected, mobile and 24/7. These days notebooks are powerful, reliable and power efficient – making the transition from desktop PC to notebook increasingly feasible for those in need of powerful computing tools.”

Technology advances such as WiFi and 3G mean people can stay connected wherever they are, whenever they want, according to Tumminello, who went on to explain that docking station technology also allows users to use their notebook like a desktop when
they need the functionality of a separate keyboard and screen.

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