For more information, contact:
Michael F. Kelly / Bill Schaub
Techtel Corporation
(510) 655-9414
mkelly@techtel.com / bschaub@techtel.com
Surprising Widespread HP Weakness Found in New Techtel Demand Situation Report - Dell Winning the US Professional Hardware Race
Groundbreaking research reveals long-term relative strengths and weaknesses of Dell, HP and IBM
Emeryville, CA, May 13, 2004 - In recent years, the U.S. computer hardware sector has become a battlefield with industry titans- the relentless Dell, the venerable IBM, a reinforced HP-fighting for market share. Released today, the 2004 Techtel Demand Situation Report indicates that, although the war is far from over, Dell now has a commanding lead in the U.S. professional PC market and continues to gain momentum in other categories at HP's expense.
HP Troubles more widespread than first thought
A two-year trend shows erosion in HP's core hardware strengths (PCs, Notebooks, Servers and Storage) relative to Dell. The bright spot is HP's growing strength in its IT Outsourcing. The issue is whether HP will be able to continue to build the IT Outsourcing, rebuild its server and storage strength and hold onto its printer share all at once. "That's a tall order," said Michael Kelly, Techtel CEO. "We were surprised at the scope of HP's problems as the study results became known."
Over the past two years Dell has gained 20% in overall Demand Strength, while IBM has gained 9% and HP (Compaq) has lost 16%. Techtel measures Demand Strength by a company's ability to find and attract prospects who then consider buying from them. Demand Strength is a crucial metric and reliable harbinger for companies' revenues and subsequent stock performance.
Groundbreaking research
Techtel's Demand Situation Report measures the underlying demand for specific products and technologies through the eyes of IT professionals, rather than from estimates of vendor shipments and vendor revenues. The latter are actually supply measures. "Supply measures are subject to constant fluctuations as supply chases demand and are much more likely to mislead on estimates of current and future demand than true demand measures," said Kelly.
The War Proliferates: Low-End and Mid-Range Servers, Communications Techtel findings also indicate that the low-end server market is a closer race for IBM, HP and Dell than in the PC market. However, if past PC market achievements are a sign of "lessons learned", both IBM and HP will need to change tactics to remain competitive with Dell.
"As business and government organizations accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies (including mobile and enterprise communication infrastructure), Dell is poised to capture an increasing share of that demand," said Vice President of Techtel, Bill Schaub. "And if Dell's command of the PC market (and now server market) is a future predictor, then HP's command in the printer area and Cisco's command in communications gear are also facing serious competition from Dell, according to these findings."
The Printer Wars: Present and Future
Techtel's research indicates that HP's remaining bastions in the enterprise market will most certainly face intense competition from Dell in the coming years. Although HP currently holds 62% of the demand strength for the U.S. professional printer market, Dell's venture into the category, combined with its progress garnering buyer attraction, generating positive opinion, increasing purchase consideration, closing sales on this consideration and building customer loyalty make the company a formidable long-term player.
To access a summary of Techtel's 2004 Demand Situation Report online, visit www.techtel.com. A full report is also available and may be ordered at the site.
About Techtel Methodology
Techtel Corporation publishes a variety of market demand and company opinion reports each quarter. This research is based on quarterly surveys of Techtel's long-standing research panels of information technology professionals.
Each quarter, an average of 650 responses are received from Techtel's 1800 member research panel of U.S. businesswomen and men with buying influence or purchase authority for IT and communications products and services complete surveys. Respondents are asked to represent their company in answering questions about various vendor products and/or services organized into 25 categories. From the results of these surveys we establish consistent measures of demand, demand-sales conversion effectiveness and degrees of customer loyalty.
About Techtel Corporation
A leading market research firm, Techtel, Emeryville, CA, has tracked demand for information technology solutions since 1984. With metrics in 25 categories (including PCs, notebooks, servers, disk storage, outsourcing services and printers) covering more than 50 companies, Techtel's research is considered to be among the most comprehensive available. Techtel also measures advertising effectiveness, brand equity and customer loyalty. Leading technology companies rely on Techtel's research information to measure the effectiveness of their marketing/sales and service efforts, and advice on how to capture more demand. Over the past 20 years nearly every major IT supplier has relied on Techtel information. Wall Street firms have relied on Techtel's research in understanding IT demand for investment purposes. For more information about Techtel, please call 510-655-9414 x 202 or visit them on the web at http://www.techtel.com.
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