HP Uncorks Consumer Product Blitz

But while HP wants more consumers to get their hands on its imaging, multimedia and mobile products for the so-called "digital home," it already has sent some solution providers a message to keep their hands off.

A little over a month ago, HP told some VARs that they may no longer provide service to its consumer products. Yet last week, as part of the consumer product blitz, HP announced a strategy to stake out real estate inside retail stores such as CompUSA, Micro Center, Circuit City and J&R ComputerWorld to create "experience centers" for showcasing and demonstrating products in real-world scenarios, hopefully generating more sales. Aftermarket service will rely greatly on 24x7, toll-free help-desk support provided via HP, company executives said.

The plan could add fuel to the fire for HP channel partners already rankled by the vendor's move to prohibit them from servicing its consumer products. One such solution provider, Tom Hebel, president of TCI Systems, College Point, N.Y., said HP stopped him and other partners from providing service for its consumer products earlier this month.

"They've cut us off from the consumer end," said Hebel, whose company has been an HP partner for 10 years. "We can no longer service any [HP] consumer products as of Aug. 1."

Though consumer sales were only a small source of revenue for TCI Systems, "we do have some customers who have Presario products," Hebel said. "We have to tell the customer to take it back where you bought it or send it back to HP. To me, that is ludicrous."

And some solution providers may encounter more such situations going forward, considering the scope of HP's consumer product rollout and the ensuing media buzz. Among the key new offerings were the following:
• The HP Photosmart 945, 635 and 435 digital cameras plus the HP Photosmart Mobile Camera, a digital-camera accessory for iPaq Pocket PC handhelds;
• The HP Photosmart 7960, an eight-color photo printer that can print more than 70,000 color configurations on studio-grade paper;
• The HP Pavilion zd7000, a desktop-replacement notebook with a 17-inch display and--depending on the configuration--a DVD burner, a docking station and a premium sound system;
• The HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000a, a DVD writer designed to provide easy transfer of analog videotape to digital video;
• The HP Scanjet 4600 flatbed and HP Scanjet 4670 vertical scanners, which sport an ultra-thin, see-through design; and
• An upgrade to the HP Media Center PC that includes a digital camera docking station.

To put financial muscle behind its new consumer product lineup, HP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina said the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company plans to spend $300 million on a marketing campaign this fall, which would represent HP's "largest consumer marketing campaign ever."

While a portion of the product lineup is expected to work its way into the small-business and "micro-business" market segments, HP executives said the technology that it's highlighting in the consumer arena would migrate into the commercial space more slowly.

Duane Zitzner, executive vice president of HP's personal systems group, downplayed any role the new products would have in the commercial space, including among small and midsize businesses. Some of the technology installed into the consumer products would see a "migration" into the business space but that most would remain aimed at retail shelves, he said.