Hewlett-Packard Co, which acquired Compaq Computer Corp last year to build up its computer-services business, won a US$3 billion contract to run systems at Procter & Gamble Co and an order to manage Ericsson AB's computers.
HP, the world's third-biggest computer-services company, will run data-center, desktop and other systems for P&G, the largest US household goods maker, under the 10-year deal. Electronic Data Systems Corp lost a bid for the work in November, and Procter & Gamble then said it would break the contract into three to five pieces.
The P&G contract is twice as big as any services contract in HPs history. International Business Machines Corp has traditionally dominated big services contracts, last year winning seven of 14 agreements valued at over US$1 billion, according to market researcher Dataquest Inc.
"HP is finally breaking into the big leagues," Dataquest analyst Eric Rocco said. ``It definitely sends a signal to the IBMs and EDSs of the world that HP is a force to reckon with.'' Last year's US$18.9 billion purchase of Compaq moved HP up to third place behind Armonk, New York-based IBM and Plano, Texas-based Electronic Data. HP is seeking more profitable services deals as computer hardware sales slow.
Palo Alto, California-based HP, also the world's largest maker of personal computers, will take over information-technology operations for Ericsson, the biggest maker of wireless networks. The company declined to reveal the value of the Ericsson contract.
"It's a very large-scale agreement," said Ann Livermore, executive vice president of Hewlett-Packard's services division, in an interview. "We've just been awarded two of what we believe will be the largest contracts this year" in the services industry, she said.
The plan called for almost 6,000 Procter & Gamble workers to transfer to Affiliated Computer.
HP was chosen based on the quality of service, the financial proposition, and as "the type of company that would be a good home for our employees," P&G spokesman Damon Jones said.
About 1,850 P&G employees will transfer to HP. Jones said no job cuts are expected at P&G because of this agreement. An undisclosed number of Ericsson workers will transfer to Hewlett-Packard, the Stockholm-based cellphone maker said.
"What the customers realize is there is a very strong alternative to IBM in the marketplace, and that's HP," said Livermore. "When a company makes a choice like this, particularly a 10-year contract, they are placing a bet on who will be their best partner today, five years out and 10 years out."
P&G will get cost savings of about 13 percent by outsourcing operations, Jones said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained