Commentary: HP smartphone comeback efforts not promising
Daniel Shen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Monday 13 January 2014]
Hewlett-Packard (HP) is planning a comeback to the smartphone market, but it is generally believed that chance is lower for HP to make its renewal efforts a success.
For the planned comeback, HP is expected to launch initially models with displays sized 5.5-7-inch, built using chipset solutions from Intel and priced below US$250 for the entry-level segment in emerging markets.
While prices of these models may be competitive enough, HP's new mobile devices may lack special features in terms of hardware specifications and could look like white-box models.
Additionally, no flagship models are to launch to inspire sales of these entry-level smartphones.
In fact, HP is using the same tactics it adopted for its tablets to promote smartphones - optimizing the supply chain in China and using an aggressive pricing strategy to push sales in emerging markets.
But such a practice may not help HP prevail in emerging markets as rival vendors including Lenovo, Acer, Asustek Computer and a number of white-box makers are also promoting low-cost models in emerging markets.
Although Lenovo's smartphones also come without special features, the vendor has managed to ramp up its shipments to over 50 million units a year, leveraging its brand image in the home market in China.
Additionally, Acer and Asustek both have gained more experience from the manufacture and marketing of Android smartphones and tablets.
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