HP: We won’t chase tablets to the bottom

HP has said it will not chase tablet prices to the bottom, but will continue its "multi-operating system, multi-architecture" push.

Meg Whitman, chief executive of the $120 billion vendor, used her keynote at this week's Canalys Channel Forum in Bangkok to stress tablets' role in their push into business.

The vendor has been making a notable shift away from long-term partner Microsoft and toward Google in the form of Chromebooks and tablets.

[HP teams with Google for push on enterprise]

Last week, Whitman admitted that Microsoft is now an "outright competitor".

At Canalys, she said: "Microsoft has been a long term partner of ours, we do a lot of business with them, the relationships is very strong right now. But we need to deliver what partners want. We are being asked how we can harden Android for business."

Whitman drew the line at HP entering the bargain basement space, such as the $50 tablets being sold at Wal-Mart in the United States. "We don’t want to chase tablets to the bottom."

Gartner has predicted that cheaper smart devices will be the key area in mobile space, helping drive a 53.5 percent growth in tablets. "The market is being driven by a shift to lower-priced devices in nearly all device categories," according to Gartner.

However, Whitman said that enterprise customers required higher-spec technology, especially serviceability, upgradeability, security and battery life.

Chris Spence, HP's channel manager, Enterprise Group South Pacific, told CRN: "A business has more requirements, security, battery life, individual jackets, there will always be that higher level of integration required in that space and don’t believe the $50 tablet will deliver that."

HP's turnaround

Whitman also offered insight into HP's ongoing turnaround plan, telling delegates that the company "lacked clear strategies" and wasn't taking innovations to market fast enough.

"I was worried two years ago that HP was falling dangerously behind," she said.

"In fiscal 2013, we started to change all of that. Our multi-year turnaround journey continues unabated. While I wish that journey were at its end, I am very comfortable with the progress we are making."

The solution, said Whitman, is better partner relationships. "The channel helped build HP. This is company built by all of you. It made sense for us to pivot back hard to the channel."

She used the vendor's new PartnerOne program as an example of this.

"We have been very clear that when in doubt, we want that business to go via the channel."

Spence agreed. "Meg has brought tremendous amount of clarity to the organisation and tremendous amount of leadership in terms of consistent direction across all of our business, and strong market statement in terms of where we are and where we're headed."

He offered HP's Moonshot as an example of much-needed innovation.

The radical new server technology uses 89% less energy, 80% less space and costing 77% less compared with traditional servers.

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Steven Kiernan is a guest of Canalys in Bangkok.