Hewlett-Packard Co, the world's largest personal-computer maker, will no longer sell printers and related gear through Dell Computer Corp, which may start competing with it in those products.
Dell, the world's second-largest PC maker, is considering selling its own printers, Hewlett-Packard spokeswoman Diane Roncal said. Dell isn't commenting on whether it will enter the printer business, company spokesman Michael Maher said. The revenue loss isn't material, he said.
Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell has said the PC maker is considering selling its own printers, which are more profitable than computers. Hewlett-Packard's printer division reported an operating profit of US$768 million in its fiscal second quarter while the company's units selling PCs and servers had losses.
"In an economy like this, why would you turn away any sales? Why would you remove yourself from the direct channel?" said Jim Lyon, who helps invest US$340 million at Oakwood Capital Management. "It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face."
If Dell customers want Hewlett-Packard printers, Dell will buy those products in the channel, Maher said. "It's just a little harder and more expensive to access those products," he said. "H-P has made it harder for our customers to buy H-P products. That's counterintuitive to us."
Hewlett-Packard's sales through Dell were equivalent to about a couple of days of annual sales in the printer division, Roncal said, declining to state the exact amount. Hewlett-Packard's imaging and printing systems division last year had sales of US$19.4 billion, according to a regulatory filing.
The end of the relationship is not material to either company, said John Jacobs, president of Jacobs & Co, which invests US$150 million and holds about 150,000 Hewlett-Packard shares. He thinks the split is a way for Hewlett-Packard to become more aggressive in its battle against Dell.
"Hewlett-Packard is definitely looking at Dell as one of its primary competitors," said Jacobs.
Investors and analysts have speculated that Dell would either start selling its own printers, buy a printer company or form an alliance like the one it has to resell storage products from EMC Corp.
A possible alliance or purchase candidate is Lexmark International Inc, which formerly sold printers through Compaq Computer Corp until the latter was bought by Hewlett-Packard in May. Dell Chief Operating Officer Kevin Rollins earlier this month said a purchase of Lexmark was "highly unlikely."
"The reality is, Dell only knows what Dell's strategy is," Lexmark CEO Paul Curlander said. "Our strategy is to grow through Lexmark-branded products," not other equipment makers.
Dell has been contacting printer makers about an alliance, said Vyomesh Joshi, H-P executive vice president for imaging and printing, in an interview last month. Two problems facing Dell are that customers don't like to wait 24 hours to buy ink cartridges as they would have to under Dell's direct distribution system, and Dell can't use the best components to build the printers because they are protected by patents, Joshi said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary