HP Leads the Home PC Market With Aggressive Price Reductions on Home Multimedia PCS; HP Broadens HP Pavilion PC Retail Distribution and Sets New Standard For Delivering Value, Quality and Reliability to Consumers

Business Wire, May 13, 1996

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1996--Furthering its leadership in the consumer PC market, Hewlett-Packard Company today announced that, effective May 15, it will cut U.S. prices by up to $200 on its HP Pavilion RealLife Imaging family of PCs, introduced earlier this year as a new standard for home multimedia computing.

RETAIL FOCUS

HP expanded regional distribution this spring to include retailers Elek-Tek, Fry's Electronics, the good guys!, J&R Computer World, Lechmere and Nobody Beats the Wiz. The HP Pavilion home multimedia PC line also is available in leading national retail outlets, including Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Computer City, Incredible Universe, MicroCenter, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples. The HP Pavilion home multimedia PC line is currently sold exclusively in the retail channel.

"We intend to continually offer consumers the best value and leading technology at the best prices," said Greg Jones, consumer business unit manager of HP's North American Marketing Center, "We believe aggressive pricing and expanded distribution, combined with quality products and stylish design, will keep HP at the top of the consumer PC market."

INCREASED MARKET SHARE AND REDUCED U.S. PRICES

Since entering the consumer PC market in 1995, HP has led the market in highest average monthly sales growth for consumer PCs at retail and has climbed from 0 percent market share in July 1995 to its current ranking among the top five vendors of consumer desktop PCs (CII StoreBoard, March 1996). HP continues to gain market share in the competitive home PC industry by offering high-quality PCs at prices consumers can afford.

"It is vital in this market for companies to stay ahead of changes in the price structure," said Joe Ferlazzo, senior analyst at Technology Business Research in Hampton, N.H. "HP has shown that it understands the dynamics of the consumer PC market and is willing to do what it takes to capture market share." -0-