Vibhor Bansal, Country Category Manager, Personal Printing Products, Imaging and Printing Group, HP India
|
Last year in the month of December, 2006, HP has initiated 'Rethink Inkjet Strategy' which was targeted to deflate the commonly held myths about business inkjet printing in comparison to laser printing. This initiative by HP shows that how aggressively the company wants to redefine the existing Inkjet printer business in India. Committed to deliver solutions based on customer feedback and requirements, today HP offer printers which are lower in Total cost of ownership (TCO), delivers better Return on Investment (ROI) and which delivers breakthrough speeds combined with unmatched print quality. Today, if we put a glance at overall Inkjet printer market in India then it is evident that HP is the irrefutable market leader with a market share of 75 per cent in the single function Inkjet Printer segment and 87 percent market share in the Inkjet All-in-One segment. Further it is estimated that the Inkjet All-in-One market is expected to grow from 440,382 units in 2006 to 734,222 units by 2010. HP being the market leader in the inkjet printer segment provides a wide range of products in this category. The range caters to a large consumer base spanning from home users to SMBs and
the SOHO segment.
The products range from DeskJets and Photoprinters for the home consumer, OfficeJets (a new category created by HP specifically for the SMB/SOHO segment) and All-in-Ones targeted at both the segments. |
Go-to-market strategy
I n order to reach out to a wide base of customers, HP has a very well etched out “go-to-market” strategy . As Indian customers have specific requirements and are looking at solutions that give reliability and quality at competitive price points, the company has planned to expand its portfolio, incorporating more user need-based products. HP's strategy is to address all customers to ensure that they have easy access to genuine products at affordable price points.
HP being a pioneer in the printer industry has always endeavoured to invest its resources on its channel development. Speaking on this front Mr. Vibhor Bansal, Country Category Manager, Personal Printing Products, Imaging and Printing Group, HP India Sales Pvt. Ltd., says, “We at HP undertake several initiatives to ensure that partners are in sync with its strategy and continue to make money. The company also engages in regular monitoring of the performance of their channel partners.”
Currently, Indian IT market is passing through paradigm shift where the B & C class cities are emerging a bigger market for all the IT Vendors. In the past few years there has been a paradigm shift in the buying pattern amongst consumers in Tier II cities. The demands in these cities are not limited to basic consumer goods (Television & refrigerators) anymore. With the changing focus of various sectors such as IT hardware, financial services, healthcare and software, towards these cities, the IT economy seems to be spreading beyond metros. Presently, India 's overall market is growing by 25 percent with the smaller cities witnessing a growth of over 45 percent to 50 percent. With its Experience Zones, HP has already made inroads into these markets. Speaking about the initiative taken by HP on this front Mr. Vibhor Bansal, says “We would extend our e-zones in these ‘untouched areas' which has a huge potential in the first-time buyer segment. In order to reach out to it's customers in tier II cities, HP has devised special channel and training programmes to ensure maximum reach in these cities.” Additionally, HP has also been heavily advertising in these cities in order to make its consumers aware about HP's new products and technologies.
Go to market strategy to grow the personal printing market
• HP will be targeting key vertical segments such as jewellers, exporters, design agencies, photographers and self employed professionals through focused market development programs by offering customized solutions for these segments.
• The company will also be targeting school children to position HP All-in-one's as the perfect study partner for a Child's education. The HP All-in-One can be used by school children to print their school projects, scan encyclopaedia and copy class notes. The pilot has already been initiated in select schools in Delhi .
• HP will be conducting channel road shows and trainings across 100 cities in Q1, 2007 to educate channel partners on the new product portfolio and technologies.
• In order to intensify channel focus on the Photo printers, HP will develop a Photo Club program for select channel partners to target photo studios and photo service providers.
• To further strengthen the upcountry focus, HP will be increasing its sales reach from 300 cities to 450 cities for the personal printing range through channel expansion.
• To further enhance the total customer experience, HP has increased consumer support coverage from 114 cities to 155 cities and increased number of service centres from 273 to 342.
• The new personal printing solutions will be available across 400 exclusive HP Experience Zones and 1500 multi-brand retail outlets. |
Technology and innovation has always propelled HP to remain ahead of its competitors. According to Vibhor Bansal, the new generation HP office jet printers are a part of the revolutionary Scalable printing technology (SPT). HP has committed $1.4 billion to create a new printing platform that would result in leading printing capabilities that would also span across multiple markets, thereby giving HP an efficiency of scale for its substantial R&D investment. An estimated 16.8 million hours of work have gone into the effort to bring this platform to market.
Scalable printing technology delivers a number of customer benefits thanks in part to the printhead which is created via a photolithographic process, meaning that all of the print head components are fabricated as one unit in a micro controlled environment, rather than welded together as a series of sub-assemblies in post-production. These results in the precise alignment of the chamber, nozzles and heating element, which then improves the accuracy of ink drop placement. The sophisticated design supports an increased density of nozzles, with 3,900 nozzles or more on a single printhead. Apart from SPT, HP has introduced the following radical technologies in the inkjet space:
- Inkjet printers which deliver printing costs 25 per cent less than colour lasers and 30% less than mono lasers - HP Office Jet Pro K550 with a cost of 64 paise per page
- Fastest printing speeds in inkjet printers - HP Photosmart PS 3108
- Wireless printing - HP Desk Jet 460cb
- Portable photo printing -HP A516 Photosmart
Apart from targeting the B & C class cities, HP has equivocally taken initiative to empower the SMB segment in India with high performance cost effective business printers which will enable them to “Get more…Do more…and Save more…”. As a part of this initiative, HP expanded its inkjet portfolio by launching the following printers which are based on HP's revolutionary Scalable Printing Technology:
• HP Officejet 4355 All-in-One Printer which offers breakthrough speed and built-in networking plus laser-quality text and professional-quality colour
• HP Officejet 6318 All In One: A reliable, ultra-compact sheet-fed All-in-One printer targeted at home and small office and micro use
• HP Officejet Pro K 850 series: A versatile and highly reliable wide format color inkjet printer with individual ink cartridges for productive individuals and small office/small business users
Service and support
Being the market leader in the printer segment, HP has always given prime importance to its customer satisfaction. The company offers Service and support to its consumers through our 24 hour HP free to call number ( 1-800-425-4999 ) and also through its website. Currently, HP has got 7520 channel partners across 342 service and support centres around the country.
In order to deliver a better service and support to its customers HP has initiated a Dial-A-Cartridge service, which enables customers to order a cartridge through a toll-free number (1800 425 4999) as and when they have run out of supplies. The cartridges can be delivered to the customer within two hours of placing the order, at their door-step. For customers who still prefer to visit a store for their supplies, HP has set up 1,500 purchase points across the country, including more than 900 HP Original Cartridge Stores, where customers can be rest assured of getting only genuine HP cartridges.
In the end
In year 2007, HP has planed to adopt a well-defined growth strategy for the inkjet business. In addition to a dedicated channel and customer training programme, the company is also planning to bolster its channel strength. |
