HP brands Apple 'untouchable no more' as it boasts PC strength
HP kicks off Global Partner Conference in Boston with catty comments about Apple and a bullish outlook on PCs
HP has taken a swipe at Apple, claiming the tech giant is "untouchable no more", as it talks up its position in the PC market at its Global Partner Conference (GPC).
At GPC, which kicked off today in Boston, HP's Personal Systems president Ron Coughlin delivered a bullish keynote in which he declared there is a wealth of opportunities for the channel in this area.
"We're optimistic and confident because of the momentum you have created," he told partners. "Last quarter we had unit growth, last year we had constant currency growth, last quarter we outgrew every competitor in the category. Our business has delivered whether conditions have been fair or foul. In the last few quarters they have been foul and we delivered, gaining 1.8 points to 24.5 per cent share - the all-time high share in this business! Stand up please and give everyone a hand! High fives for that! High fives all round. Great work!"
He acknowledged some naysayers who have recently accused HP of not being innovative enough, but insisted that they are wrong. HP split into two last November in a bid to become more focused and able to innovate faster.
"There were people who doubted us and those who said the HP innovation engine has lost its gas," he said. "What do we say to those people?"
"So my final question to you is, is this an innovation engine that is humming? Hell yeah. All right!"
At this point, his slides showed the words ‘hell no' which the thousands of partners gathered at the event shouted out.
"Hell no. That's right. We announced the lightest, thinnest consumer commercial notebook. This is the most beautiful PC in the world. Is that an innovation engine that has lost its gas? I can't hear you!
"We announced the world's thinnest detachable, we announced the world's first curved all-in-one. Is that an innovation engine where the engineers forgot the address of the HP garage? And just in the last few weeks we announced a complete reinvention of the desktop and the truly breakthrough X3. So my final question to you is, is this an innovation engine that is humming? Hell yeah. All right!"
Later on in his energetic keynote, Coughlin singled out Apple as a vendor it is directly competing against in the personal systems space, dishing out some fierce fighting talk.
HP brands Apple 'untouchable no more' as it boasts PC strength
HP kicks off Global Partner Conference in Boston with catty comments about Apple and a bullish outlook on PCs
He admitted that in the past HP could not compete with the giant, but said now, times have changed.
Referring to the unveiling of the A3 printer-copier in the other section of HP, Coughlin said: "We have our own A3 - but it is FA3. It is not what you think, potty mouths. It is finally, aggressively attacking Apple! We took - no, you took - three share points from Apple and we gained three share points. Awesome, awesome job.
"Apple has been the defining brand for engineering amazing premium devices. Apple has defined premium design for decades. Even at HP, we treated Apple as an untouchable part of the market. My news for you today is that Apple is untouchable no more.
"Apple is leading design trends no more. Apple is leading in innovation no more. Apple is gaining share no more. Apple is growing no more. It is HP which is gaining that share and you gaining that share. Awesome job! Now I realise there may be some Apple fan boys or fan girls in the room doubting that statement. So we went to the bastion of Apple loyalty - the Apple Store - to talk to people who had just bought an Apple device and showed them these beautiful devices."
Following this, a video played, showing HP staff showing off the firm's latest devices to customers who had just bought an Apple product from its retail stores. The customers which were shown in the video were surprised and impressed with the products, compared with Macs.
"Even at HP, we treated Apple as an untouchable part of the market. My news for you today is that Apple is untouchable no more."
The PC market has had a difficult few years, with the latest IDC figures showing shipments in Q2 fell 4.5 per cent annually.
But Coughlin fired partners up, insisting there are pockets of growth within the market. He said that one big opportunity is the fact that so many customers are using old PCs from three or four years ago, which could get upgraded to better models today.
"Shame on us with all of this innovation if we can't convince these people to upgrade their PCs," he said.
"Half of the [PC} market is growing at nine per cent - commercial services, mobility, displays," he said. "On commercial mobility, Joe Hemani at Westcoast, his mobility mix is now 17 per cent. He is positioning his business for higher growth and margins. Hats off to Joe!"