Project HP New

A study on the consumer perception with respect to HP Laptops

INTRODUCTION

If there is anything that the Indian computer hardware industry

has to offer to the various Indian and Multinational Hardware

Manufacturing companies, it is growth. Recent MAIT study, conducted

jointly with Big Five firm Ernst & Young, concluded that the Indian

hardware industry had the potential to reach a size of $62 billion by

2010.

For a country whose economy is so heavily dependent on

agriculture, a vibrant hardware industry has the potential to generate

three million jobs, especially for Indians who come from economically

underprivileged sections, who aren’t very highly educated.

So, in the words of Deshpande, the hardware industry can be

some sort of a panacea for India’s unemployment problem. Also, with

the size of the contract manufacturing industry expected to be over

$500 billion by the year 2010, Indian firms could grab a significant

chunk of the pie in a manner pretty similar to India’s emergence as a

key player in the global BPO stakes. And, with a potentially huge

market in embedded systems emerging, Indian firms with the right

mix of hardware and software can be big players here. For the

record, of all the high-end processors produced in the world, only 6

percent are used in PCs and the remaining 94 percent are used in

entertainment electronics, non-PC devices, communication products

and embedded electronics.

B.R.B. College of Commerce, Raichur. B.B.M. Course 1

Accredited by NAAC with B++ Grade


The hardware revolution is also essential for the continued high

growth of the software industry. As Vinnie Mehta, director of MAIT,

puts it: “India can lose out on the software advantage it has already

built up, and the future potential, if it does not concentrate on the

hardware front. For example, the estimated domestic hardware

requirement by 2008 to meet the software target of $87 billion is

$160 million.”

With such given potential, the major players in the market like

Hewlett Packard, Sony, Lenovo, Dell etc can expect to gain a lot. At

the same time, the competition is bound to grow and get intense.

Therefore these manufacturers have to take measures to counter

competition efficiently.

In order to establish the brand in the minds of the consumer,

the manufacturers should ensure that the consumers have a positive

perception about the product, product features, quality level, look,

design and appearance etc.

This study revolves around studying the various perceptions

prospective customers of Hewlett Packard Laptop hold against the

brand, its quality, price, correlation between the price and quality etc.

The study conducted in Bangalore intends to throw light on the above

mentioned parameters such that Hewlett Packard can make

necessary decisions based on the findings and suggestions.




Categories:

Terms sometimes used for subtypes of laptop computers include:

Ultra portables:

Laptops with screens typically less than 12 inches diagonally

and a weight of less than 1.7kg. Their keyboards are usually not full-

size. Their primary audience is usually business travelers, who need

small, light laptops. Ultraportables are often very expensive, have

extended battery and/or battery life, house power-saving CPUs and

almost always have integrated graphics.

Thin-and-lights:

Laptops usually weighing in between 1.8kg and 2.8kg with a

screen size of between 12 and 14 inches diagonally. Examples of this

variety: the Sony VAIO FJ, Apple MacBook and Dell XPS M1210.

Medium-sized laptops:

These usually have screens of 14 – 15.4 inches diagonally and

a weight of around 3-3.5kg. They usually sacrifice a little computing

power for smaller dimensions and longer battery life, although the

length and width are usually determined by the screen size.

Desktop replacement computers:

Powerful laptops meant to be mainly used in a fixed location

and infrequently carried out due to their weight and size; the latter

provides more space for powerful components and a big screen,

usually measuring 17-20 inches. Desktop replacements tend to have

limited battery life, rarely exceeding three hours, because the

hardware is not optimized for efficient power usage.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_replacement_computer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraportable


RESEARCH DESIGN

Title of the Study:

“A study on the Consumer Perception with reference to HP laptops”

Statement of the problem:

Hp is one of the leading PC manufactures in the world and is

one of the leading seller of Computer Hardware in India. It is currently

facing cut throat competition from PC manufactures in the market. So

to tackle this problem we have taken a survey on customer

perception towards the laptops manufactured by Hewlett Packard. It

also studies the buyers profile in the demographic and

psychographic. The study applied is descriptive in nature and it also

tends to find the customers view about the important aspects of the

product and to determine the competition market share of HP.

Scope of the Study:

The aim of the study is to provide the Management of Hewlett

Packard India with the information which would help it understand

the perceptions customers in Bangalore have about the Laptops

manufactured by Hewlett Packard, any negative perception about

their product, the reasons for such perceptions and recommendations

and suggestions to overcome these problems.




Research Objectives:

To study the level of awareness of Hewlett Packard Laptops.

Find customer perceptions about the quality, price and design

of their products.

Reasons for dissatisfaction / negative perception about any

aspect of HP Laptops.

To assess the demographics of the prospective customers of

Hewlett Packard Laptops.

To offer subjective recommendations based on the above

study.

Limitations of the study:

The study is limited to the users of laptops within Bangalore

city only,

All the responses of the respondents are assumed to be true,

Sample size selected has to be restricted due to time and

budget constraints.

Respondents were either vague or incomplete at times which

makes the answers of the interpretation difficult.




Research Methodology:

Sources of Data Collection:

Primary Data

Secondary Data

Primary Data:

Primary Data for this research has been exclusively collected

from the following sources

Questionnaire conducted with a sample size of 100

respondents.

Information collected from the employees working in the

authorized dealer’s stores of Hewlett Packard.

Informal interview was conducted with the Marketing Head of

Hewlett Packard.

Secondary Data:

Information for the purpose of the study was collected from the

newspapers, magazines, company journals, company reports,

standard textbooks, and appropriate information from the Internet

has been acquired wherever necessary.




Research Approach:

The study was conducted using survey method.

Survey approach:

Surveys are the best suited for descriptive research, company

advised me to undertake the survey to learn the brand awareness

and customer satisfaction.

Research Instrument:

The information was gathered using structured questionnaire.

Questionnaire:

A Questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to

respondents, in order to get their feedback regarding the product.

Place of study:

The study was conducted in various areas of Bangalore city

only, with the help of 100 respondents to carry on the survey, an

extensive field work was undertaken.




Sampling Design:

Types of universe:

The universe in the study is an infinite number of items taken

into account

Sampling unit:

The sampling unit is limited to the users of laptop computers

within Bangalore city.

Sampling size:

Number of respondents taken into consideration is 100.

Sampling technique:

The Sampling technique used in the study is conducted among

the users of the HP laptop.

Plan of Analysis:

The objectives are drafted and a projective quantitative

questionnaire is constructed for the research. The data thus obtained

is tabulated through the construction of tables and graphs and finally

the findings are interpreted.




INDUSTRY PROFILE

The laptop, also known as a notebook PC, is no longer a luxury

item as against the `wow' effect it had a few years ago. Much like

other commodities, it is being displayed on the shelves of big

supermarkets and retail shops, moving from the exclusive confines of

exotic showrooms.

Earlier, when the word `laptop' was uttered, one could visualise

only executives carrying it. Today all segments, including students

and households, are buying these `notebooks'. For people on the

move, the laptop has become an indispensable tool. What with

overcrowded roads and traffic snarls, the average travelling time in

metros such as Mumbai and Bangalore has only gone up. Here, the

laptop is a cool tool that helps professionals to keep working and thus

save time.

This also helps companies to keep their employees more

productive. Industry sources say that desktops which was the

"symbol of corporate vanity till the other day are slowly becoming

passé with notebooks now the mainstream."

The numbers too capture the growing appeal of the laptop. In

the first half of the current financial year, Indians bought nearly

153,000 notebooks, compared to 36,000 units in the same period two

years ago, said a recently released performance review of MAIT. It

added that the momentum in the Indian notebook market is finally in




sync with the global trend, where for the first time in 2005 notebook

sales surpassed desktops sales.

This performance was led by the small and medium enterprises

(SME) which, in turn, is supplemented by bulk purchases by large

enterprises. Consumption by small enterprises grew 118 percent

accounting for 17 percent of the total notebook sales to the business

segment; sales to medium-sized enterprises grew by 136 percent

accounting for 21 percent, MAIT said.

Compared to the first-half of the last fiscal year, sales to large

enterprises grew by 102 percent accounting for 61 percent of the

total sales in the business segment.

During the period, the desktop personal computer (PC) market

grossed 2.34 million units registering a growth of 36 percent over the

previous year. During April-September 2005, the ratio of desktop-to-

notebook sales declined to 15 from 22 a year ago.

"Clearly, notebooks are competing with desktops with

convenience and productivity scoring high", said MAIT adding that

notebook sales have also found their way into homes. In first half of

2005-06, about 16,000 notebooks were sold to the household

segment accounting for 13 percent of the total market.

"Notebook sales recorded a high growth of 94 per cent and also

found their way into homes. In the first half of 2005-06, about 16,000

notebooks were sold to the household segment accounting for 13 per

cent of the total market," MAIT has said, releasing the findings of

Industry Performance Review conducted jointly with IMRB.




Piyush Pushkal, Senior Analyst, Computing Products & Channels

Research, IDC India, has said in a release, "The momentum in the

Indian notebook PC market is in sync with the worldwide trend of

acceptance in the small and medium-size business segment,

supplemented by bulk purchases by large enterprises. Clearly,

notebook PCs are providing tough competition to the desktop

segment due to the attributes of convenience and productivity."

Hewlett-Packard continues to lead this category with a market

share of 42 per cent in unit shipments. Lenovo and Acer are at

second and third slots with market shares of 18 per cent and 15 per

cent, respectively (market share in terms of unit shipments). HP,

along with Lenovo, Acer and Toshiba, grew rapidly in this space

mainly due to falling price points, according to IDC.Data for Lenovo

includes shipments for IBM PCD (including Desktop and Notebook PCs

but excluding x86 Servers and Personal Workstations) starting Q2 of

2005. This reflects the legal status of the companies, which merged

during the second quarter of 2005, says IDC.

Spurs that helped:

So what's driving this sudden awareness of notebooks? After all

neither notebooks nor laptops are new to the Indian IT users, and just

like the desktops, computer makers were trying hard for years to

push sales of notebooks too.




Affordability, the increasing demand for mobile computing in a

fast growing economy, the growth of wireless telephony in India and

adoption of technologies such as wireless, are some of the key

reasons for the increase in laptop sales.

"One of the biggest factor pushing sales for notebooks is the

affordability factor or reduction in prices" says Rajiev Grover, country

category manager, Hewlett-Packard India. "India's personal computer

market is undergoing a major transition as premium notebook

computers are being brought to the mainstream, with almost half the

prices, compared with a year ago."

On average, the prices of entry-level notebook computers now

range between $800 to a little over $1000 compared to $1500 to

over $2000 that prevailed about 12 to 18 months back. Moreover,

notebooks now cost only around $200 more than a high-end desktop

personal computer, which is also driving many desktop buyers to opt

for notebooks.

The Government's step to deregulate the wireless spectrum

and de-license wireless technologies such as 802.11b and 802.11g

standards has helped too. And the price competitiveness of laptops

vis-à-vis desktops has also played a major role, says Dinesh Pai,

General Manager, Dell India.

Another important development was the coming in of the zero-

duty regime in April last year — this has made laptops more

accessible for the common man. The Indian customer is benefiting

from the latest technology at the lowest price possible. Educational

institutions and corporations are opting for laptops with wireless in a

big way, says Pai.




However, according to Vinnie Mehta, the executive director of

MAIT, another key driver has been the growth of newer professions,

that not only require different working styles but also mobile devices

for anytime-anywhere computing.

"For instance many type the IT-enabled workers or back office

workers like medical transcription workers) need not work out of an

old fashioned office anymore. Similarly many financial and marketing

sector professionals need to be one the move always," says Mehta.

"The progression actually came from mobile phones, where

people in Indiastarted to engage in mobility as a part of their

business," he added.

Falling prices:

Rajendra Kumar, Executive Vice-President, HCL Infosystems

Ltd, the domestic PC manufacturer, says the starting price for a

laptop now is around Rs 35,000 and it goes up to Rs 1.75 lakh,

appealing to a wide spectrum of customers.With laptops being

brought into the mainstream at almost half the prices as compared to

a year ago, India's computer market is seeing exponential growth. A

year ago, an entry-level laptop was at about Rs 45,000. Now it is

available for under Rs 30,000. Next year, the laptop market is set for

a larger pie of the household share as well, up from 12 per cent in

2005, says Rajiev Grover, Country Category Manager, Consumer

Portables, Hewlett-Packard (HP).

India is a price-sensitive market, thus cost is certainly a key

buying parameter. Zenith has launched Intel Centrino notebooks

priced at Rs 39,990 with DVD combo optical drives, says Devita




Saraf, Executive Director, Zenith Computers. Low-cost offerings will

be a good catch for first-time laptop users, as a desktop replacement.

But, any decision to buy notebooks should be made after considering

various parameters.

In August 2004, Zenith launched laptops with the `Power of

Seven'. Zenith has 450 dedicated retail stores and plans to grow to

1,000 stores by the end of 2006, says Saraf. Laptops vs desktops

Laptops will not take away the desktop PC. The usage of the

two depends on the user profile. Both will co-exist with their own

benefits. A desktop has a higher probability of upgrades to increase

its life with low maintenance costs, whereas laptop maintenance is

higher than the desktop PC's. Even though laptops allow more

mobility, they invite more physical security-related issues compared

to desktops, he says.While the trend towards mobility will continue to

grow, "we believe the PC will never die." The future of the PC, as we

know it, is in smaller, more compact, lighter designs. The notebook of

today is probably the best example of what the home PC will look like

in the future, except that it will not cost as much. The other factor at

play here is the effect of convergence and information appliances,

says Dinesh Pai, General Manager, Dell India.

And all this means that its party time for notebook vendors. But

yet another important trend that is emerging from this shift is that

while the multinationals notebook vendors are experiencing

burgeoning sales, local notebook makers' cash registers aren't really

ringing that loud.




"We don't expect notebook sales to match our desktops for

quite some time," says Raj Saraf, chairman and MD, Zenith

Computers, a biggish local personal computer manufacturer that

claims to sell "MNC computers and local prices."

And the reason why MNC brand names are outselling local ones

is that "we have been scoring one up on the utility factor," said the

local spokesperson of Fujitsu PC Asia Pacific. "They (MNC brands) are

growing and gaining the choice of the user not just because of the

narrowing of the prices between desktop and notebooks but also

because we have amalgamated next generation technologies like

bluetooth and Wi-Fi with mobile computing to bring more utility to

notebooks."

But it is also true that MNCV brands have been more

aggressive sellers. "The last couple of years have seen intense price

wars, with leading brands including Acer, HP and IBM forever racing

to slash the price of their notebooks," says Mehta of MAIT.

The PC of tomorrow will cease to be a be-all-do-all machine.

The home PC would probably morph into a hub for `intelligent' home

devices performing very specialised tasks. Add to this the capability

brought on by the Internet and you have a laptop-like machine

connecting various points around the house with the added element

of mobility. However, this will take place over a few decades

considering the high-low mix of technology around the world and

within boundaries, he says.




Adoption of broadband, wireless and gaming are likely to drive

demand for mobility products. Many customers may switch from

desktops to notebooks due to better price propositions and the

inherent advantages of mobility products, he says. Increasing

consumer awareness, combined with the availability of wireless

hotspots in educational institutions, offices and hotels, will create an

increasingly favourable environment for notebooks, he says.

Spotlight on security:

As more computer users transition to sleek notebooks/ultra

sleek notebooks and access networks from remote locations and

public wireless networks, user and system security have become a

top priority. There will be more demands from customers to protect

their data, access, and network, he says.

HP plans:

HP is looking at the media and entertainment space in a big

way. To address this market requirement, "we recently launched our

premium range of Pavilion notebooks. Priced between Rs 50,000 and

Rs 70,000, the HP Pavilion notebooks come with a remote control, a

neon backlit keyboard and a quick play option (entertainment-related

software) to help users switch straight to, say, a movie, without

waiting for the laptop to boot up." The downside is that the battery

offers a low two-and-a-half-hours to three hours backup, says Grover

of HP.

The threat of the unorganised sector is miniscule. Laptops are a

high-involvement product and the consumer places a lot of emphasis

on after-sales service and brand, which the unorganised market is




unable to offer. With price cuts boosting the laptop market,

companies do not see local PC assemblers as a threat.

Choose with care

DINESH Pai, General Manager, Dell India, offers some insight

into making the right choice.It is critical to understand one's own

specific needs while choosing a notebook. The priorities for mobile

computing are weight, wireless performance and battery life. Weight

is undoubtedly the most critical factor. One should also pay attention

to the average run time of the notebook's battery as also built-in

wireless functions.

Moreover, the processor, the memory capacity, scalability in a

networked environment, the quality and size of display, the optical

drives and pointing devices, power consumption, costs of usage,

maintenance and a host of other factors determined by the specific

set of needs of each customer should also to be taken into account

while choosing a laptop.

As more computer users transition to sleek notebooks and

access networks from remote locations and public wireless networks,

user and system security will become a top priority, he says.




COMPANY PROFILE

ABOUT HEWLETT PACKARD

The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly

known as HP, is currently the world's largest information technology

corporation and is known worldwide for its printers and personal

computers. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States, it

has a global presence in the fields of computing, printing, and digital

imaging, and also provides software and services. The company

which once catered to engineering and medical markets now markets

to households with products such as cameras and ink cartridges

found in grocery and department stores.

HP posted US$91.7 billion in annual revenue in 2006 compared

to US$91.4 for IBM, making it the world's largest technology vendor

in terms of sales. HP is now the No. 1 ranking company in worldwide

personal computer shipments, surpassing rival Dell, market research

firms Gartner and IDC reported in October 2006; per Gartner [2], the



http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070117006106&newsLang=en

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDC

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology

http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=HPQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Stock_Exchange


gap between HP and Dell widened substantially at the end of 2006,

with HP taking a near 3.5% market share lead.

Company History:

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard both graduated from Stanford

University in 1934. The company originated in a garage in nearby

Palo Alto while they were post-grad students at Stanford during the

Great Depression.

The partnership was formalized on January 1, 1939 with an

investment of US$538.[1] Bill won the coin toss and named their

electronics manufacturing enterprise the "Hewlett-Packard

Company."

Of the many projects they worked on, their first financially

successful product was a precision audio oscillator, the Model 200A.

Their innovation was the use of a small light bulb as a temperature

dependent resistor in a critical portion of the circuit. This allowed

them to sell the Model 200A for $54.40 when competitors were

selling less stable oscillators for over $200. The Model 200 series of

generators continued until at least 1972 as the 200AB, still tube-

based but improved in design through the years. At 33 years, it was

perhaps the longest-selling basic electronic design of all time.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistor

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_garage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_University

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Packard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hewlett


One of the company's earliest customers was The Walt Disney

Company, who bought eight Model 200B oscillators (at $71.50 each)

for use in certifying the Fantasound surround sound systems installed

in theaters for the movie Fantasia.

Focus:

The company was originally rather unfocused, working on a

wide range of electronic products for industry and even agriculture.

Eventually they elected to focus on high-quality electronic test and

measurement equipment. Throughout the 1940s to well into the

1990s the company focused on making signal generators, voltmeters,

oscilloscopes, counters, and other test equipment. Their

distinguishing feature was pushing the limits of measurement range

and accuracy. For instance, almost every HP voltmeter or signal

generator has one or more extra clicks of its knobs than its

competitors. HP volt- or ammeters would measure down and up an

extra 10 to 100 times the units of other meters. Although there were

good reasons why competing meters stopped at 1 volt full scale, HP

engineers figured out ways of extending the range of their equipment

by a considerable amount. They also focused on extreme accuracy

and stability, leading to a wide range of very accurate, precise, and

stable frequency counters, voltmeters, thermometers, and time

standards.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_(movie)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surround_sound

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walt_Disney_Company


The Sixties and the Seventies:

HP is recognized as the symbolic founder of Silicon Valley,

although it did not actively investigate semiconductor devices until a

few years after the "Traitorous Eight" had abandoned William

Shockley to create Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. Hewlett-

Packard's HP Associates division, established around 1960, developed

semiconductor devices primarily for internal use. Instruments and

calculators were some of the products using these devices.

HP experimented with using Digital Equipment Corporation

minicomputers with its instruments. But after deciding that it would

be easier to buy another small design team than deal with DEC, HP

entered the computer market in 1966 with the HP 2100 / HP 1000

series of minicomputers. A simple accumulator-based design, with

registers arranged somewhat similarly to the Intel x86 architecture

still used today, it would last 20 years and several attempts to

replace it. It would give birth to the HP 9800 and HP 250 series of

desktop and business computers, which predated the PCs by nearly a

decade. The HP 3000 was an advanced stack based design for

business computing server later redesigned with RISC technology

that has only recently been retired from the market.

The HP 2640 series of smart and intelligent terminals

introduced forms-based interfaces to ASCII terminals, and screen

labeled function keys now commonly used on gas pumps and bank

ATMs. Although scoffed at in the formative days of computing, HP



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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Semiconductor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shockley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_Eight

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley


would eventually surpass even IBM as the world's largest technology

vendor in sales.

HP is acknowledged by Wired magazine as the producer of the

world's first personal computer, in 1968, the Hewlett-Packard 9100A.[2] HP called it a desktop calculator because, as Bill Hewlett said, "If

we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our

customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We

therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense

disappeared." An engineering triumph at the time, the logic circuit

was produced without any integrated circuits; the assembly of the

CPU having been entirely executed in discrete components. With CRT

readout, magnetic card storage, and printer the price was around

$5000.

The company earned global respect for a variety of products.

They introduced the world's first handheld scientific electronic

calculator in 1972 (the HP-35), the first handheld programmable in

1974 (the HP-65), the first alphanumeric, programmable, expandable

in 1979 (the HP-41C), and the first symbolic and graphing calculator

HP-28C. Like their scientific and business calculators, their

oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and other measurement instruments

have a reputation for sturdiness and usability (the latter products are

now part of spin-off Agilent's product line). The company's design

philosophy in this period was summarized as "design for the guy at

the next bench".

The Eighties and Beyond:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agilent_Technologies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_analyzer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscilloscope

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-28C

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-41



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calculator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_mainframe


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard_9100A

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Magazine


In 1984, HP introduced both inkjet and laser printers for the

desktop. Along with its scanner product line, these have later been

developed into successful multifunction products, the most significant

being single-unit printer/scanner/copier/fax machines. The print

mechanisms in HP's tremendously popular LaserJet line of laser

printers depend almost entirely on Canon's components (print

engines), which in turn use technology developed by Xerox. HP

develops the hardware, firmware, and software that convert data into

dots for the mechanism to print.

In the 1990s, HP expanded their computer product line, which

initially had been targeted at university, research, and business

customers, to reach consumers. Later in the decade HP opened

hpshopping.com as an independent subsidiary to sell online, direct to

consumers; the store was rebranded "HP Home & Home Office Store"

in 2005.

HP also grew through acquisitions, buying Apollo Computer in

1989, Convex Computer in 1995, and Compaq in 2002. Compaq itself

had bought Tandem Computers in 1997 (which had been started by

ex-HP employees), and Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998.

Following this strategy HP became a major player in desktops,

laptops, and servers for many different markets.

In 1987, the Palo Alto garage where Hewlett and Packard

started their business was designated as a California State historical

landmark.

In 1999, all of the businesses not related to computers,

storage, and imaging were spun off from HP to form Agilent. Agilent's

spin-off was the largest initial public offering in the history of Silicon




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_public_offering

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandem_Computers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convex_Computer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Computer

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/home.do

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multifunctional

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanner_(computing)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_printer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printer


Valley. The spin-off created an $8 billion company with about 30,000

employees, manufacturing scientific instruments, semiconductors,

optical networking devices, and electronic test equipment for telecom

and wireless R&D and production. Also in July 1999, HP appointed

Carly Fiorina as CEO. Fiorina was the first woman ever to serve as

CEO of a company included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Fiorina was forced to resign on February 9, 2005.

TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTS

HP has a successful line of laptops,printers, scanners, digital

cameras, calculators, PDAs, servers, workstations, and home-small

business computers. HP today promotes itself as not just being a

hardware and software company, but also one that offers a full range

of services to architect, implement and support today's IT

infrastructure.

Laptops:

Pavilion Media Center dv2630ea Entertainment - Core 2 Duo T5250 / 1.5 GHz - Centrino Duo - RAM 2 GB - HDD 160 GB - DVD±RW (+R double layer) / DVD-



http://laptop236.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/hp-pavilion-media-center-dv2630ea-entertainment-core-2-duo-t5250-15-ghz-centrino-duo-ram-2-gb-hdd-160-gb-dvd%C2%B1rw-r-double-layer-dvd-ram-gf-8400m-gs-wlan-bluetooth-80211a/



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Fiorina

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_and_development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_test_equipment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measuring_instrument



RAM - GF 8400M GS - WLAN : Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g - Vista Home Premium - 14.1″ Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA )





http://astore.amazon.co.uk/hp-pavillion-laptop-store-21/detail/B000YSY5OU%00%E5%A1%B9%EF%92%81%E1%B4%BB%E4%A1%BF%E2%B2%AF%E5%B6%82%E8%97%84%E6%8C%A7%00%00%EA%AE%A5


HP TX1150EA Laptop Main Specifications –• AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core TL-60• 1.8GHz HyperTransport• 1MB Cache• 2048MB RAM• 160GB Hard Drive• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium• Digital TV Tuner• 128MB NVIDIA GeForce GO 6150 Graphics• Dual Layer DVD ReWriter MultiDrive• Wireless Enabled• 12.1″ HD Brightview Touchscreen• Fingerprint Reader

Imaging and Printing Group:

According to HP's 2005 U.S. SEC 10-K filing, HP's Imaging and

Printing Group is "the leading imaging and printing systems provider

in the world for printer hardware, printing supplies and scanning

devices, providing solutions across customer segments from

individual consumers to small and medium businesses to large

enterprises." This division is currently headed by Vyomesh Joshi.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-K

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Securities_and_Exchange_Commission


Products and technology associated with the Imaging and

Printing Group include:

Inkjet and LaserJet printers, consumables and related products.

the Indigo Digital Press.

the HP Web Jetadmin printer management software.

the HP Output Management suite of software, including HP

Output Server.

the LightScribe optical recording technology that laser-etches

labels on disks.

Personal Systems Group:

HP's Personal Systems Group is "one of the leading vendors of personal computers ("PCs") in the world based on unit volume shipped and annual revenue."

Personal Systems Group products/technology include:

Consumer PCs including the HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario and VoodooPC series.

Workstations for Unix, Windows and Linux systems. Handheld Computing including iPAQ Pocket PC handheld

computing devices Digital Entertainment including DVD+RW drives, HP Movie

Writer and HP Digital Entertainment Center. HP resold the Apple iPod from HP until November 2005.

Technology Solutions Group:



http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HP_Digital_Entertainment_Center&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HP_Movie_Writer&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HP_Movie_Writer&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VoodooPC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LightScribe

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HP_Web_Jetadmin&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_Digital_Press

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaserJet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printer


In HP's financial reporting, HP groups its Enterprise Storage and

Servers, HP Services and Software under Technology Solutions

Group.

HP's Enterprise Storage and Servers Group has product/technology

including:

the ProLiant entry line of x86 based servers (from Compaq)

the BladeSystem x86 based blade servers

the Integrity line using the Itanium processor architecture (with

Intel) running on several operating systems including HP-UX (a

UNIX implementation)

the HP AlphaServer productline using the Alpha processor (from

DEC) and running on both:

o Tru64 operating system (from DEC)

o The OpenVMS large-scale, highly available server

operating system (from DEC)

the NonStop high-reliability architecture and operating system

(from Tandem Computers)

MIPs based Nonstop fault-tolerant server products

the PA-RISC processor architecture

the HP 9000 "Superdome" line of Servers and workstations

the StorageWorks product line, which includes business class

and enterprise class data storage and protection products.

the ProCurve family of network switches, wireless access

points, and routers.

HP's Software division has products/technologies:

the OpenView family of management software



http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Management_software&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenView

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workstation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_(computing)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processor_architecture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PA-RISC_family




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenVMS


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tru64


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEC_Alpha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-UX

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IA64

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProLiant


the OpenCall family of telecom software

HP Labs:

HP Labs (or HP Laboratories) is the research arm of HP.

Founded in 1966, HP Labs' function is to deliver breakthrough

technologies and to create business opportunities that go beyond

HP's current strategies. An example of recent HP Lab technology

includes the Memory spot chip.

Partnerships:

HP is a supporter of FOSS and Linux. Some HP employees, such

as Linux CTO and former Debian Project Leader Bdale Garbee

actively contribute and have Open Source job responsibilities. Many

others participate in the Open Source community as volunteers. HP is

also known in the (GNU/)Linux community for releasing drivers for

many of their printers under the GNU GPL.

Hewlett-Packard also works extensively with Microsoft and uses

technology from most major software and hardware vendors.

Until November 2005, HP offered a re-branded version of the

Apple iPod. Hewlett-Packard partners with many application software

companies, for example SAP AG.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_AG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_GPL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bdale_Garbee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOSS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_spot_chip

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telecom_software&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OpenCall&action=edit


Sponsorships:

HP has many sponsorships. One well known sponsorship is Walt

Disney World's EPCOT Park's Mission: Space. Others can be found on

Hewlett-Packards Website [3] From 1995 to 1999 they were the shirt

sponsor of English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

Product Legacy:

Agilent Technologies, not HP, retains the direct product legacy

of the original company founded in 1939. Agilent's current portfolio of

electronic instruments are descended from HP's very earliest

products. HP entered the computer business only after its

instrumentation competencies were well-established. Agilent was

spun off from HP in 1999.

Culture:

The founders, known to friends and employees alike as Bill and

Dave, developed a unique management style that has come to be



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agilent_Technologies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Hotspur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/sponsorships/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission:_Space

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World


known as the HP Way. In Bill's words, the HP Way is "a core ideology .

. . [that] includes a deep respect for the individual, a dedication to

affordable quality and reliability, a commitment to community

responsibility, and a view that the company exists to make technical

contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity."[6]

The HP Alumni Association maintains a tribute to Bill and

Dave's version of the HP Way, circa 1992.

Trivia:

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether

the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or

Packard-Hewlett. Packard lost.

HP spun off a small company, Dynec, to specialize in digital

equipment. The name was picked so that the HP logo "hp" could be

turned upside down to be the logo "dy" of the new company.

Eventually Dynec changed to Dymec, then was folded back into HP.

HP partnered in the 1960s with Sony and the Yokogawa Electric

companies in Japan to develop several high-quality products. The

products were not a huge success, as there were high costs in

building HP-looking products in Japan.

Just about every HP product in the test equipment line was

labeled with three to five digits followed by the letter "A". Improved

versions went to suffixes "B" through "D". A small handful of products




http://www.hpalumni.org/hp_way.htm


somehow got bizarre model numbers, such as the "H201-20"

microwave signal generator.

Steve Wozniak originally designed the Apple I computer while

working at HP, but they turned down his offer of licensing the design

to HP.

HP products were usually very rugged, with clean styling, top

notch components, and with conservative specifications, so

customers were usually pleasantly surprised when the equipment

looked and worked better than expected. There were a few missteps,

however:

In the 1960s they briefly went to painting their equipment a

light lavender color.

In the early 1970s they started a line of "lower cost" test

equipment with atrociously ugly and flimsy plastic cases. The

cases also got a bad case of 1970s colors, coming out in dark

shag rug green and burnt orange.

On test equipment made in the 1980s a common problem was

flimsy knobs that easily broke off.

A very few innovative but malfunctioning products, such as the

original HP 3000 computers, had to be recalled for extensive

reworking.

Management:




Chairman of the Board, CEO, and President: Mark Hurd (March

29, 2005 - current, appointed Chairman September 22, 2006)

History:

Co-founder and CEO: David Packard (CEO: 1964–1969)

Co-founder and CEO: William Hewlett (CEO: 1969–1978)

CEO: John A. Young (1978—October 31, 1992)

CEO: Lewis Platt (November 1, 1992—July 18, 1999)

Chairman and CEO: Carly Fiorina (July 19, 1999—February 9,

2005, appointed chairman in 2000)

Interim CEO: Robert Wayman (February 10, 2005—March 28,

2005)

CEO: Mark Hurd (CEO: April 1, 2005—; Chairman: September

22, 2006—)

Chairman: Patricia C. Dunn (February 2005—September 22,

2006).

Diversity:

Hewlett-Packard received a 100% rating on the Corporate

Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in

2003, the second year of the report. In addition, the company was

named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004

by Working Mothers magazine.

Hewlett-Packard is also involved in the NEPAD e-school

program to provide all schools in Africa with computers and internet

access.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEPAD_e-school_program

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEPAD_e-school_program

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Campaign


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_C._Dunn





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hurd


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_28



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wayman




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_19

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Fiorina


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_18


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Platt


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_31

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Young

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hewlett

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Packard






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hurd


Ad Campaigns:

Hewlett-Packard has used a number of innovative commercials

to sell its products.

The Computer is Personal Again:

In May 2006, the company launched a new campaign designed

to bring back the fact that the PC (Personal Computer) is a personal

product. The campaign utilized viral marketing, sophisticated visuals,

and its own web site.[8] Some of the ads featured well-known

personalities - Pharrell, Mark Burnett, Mark Cuban, Jay-Z, Shaun

White, and Santa Claus (voiced by Tim Allen, who plays him in The

Santa Clause film trilogy). Rather than show a bunch of talking heads,

each advertisement showed a neck-down view in which the endorser,

aided greatly by graphics, visually showed how they used HP

products. All these personalities weren't paid millions of dollars but

brought a deal with HP to sponsor their or a selected charity group.

Two months after having created The Computer Is Personal

Again, Dell followed up with its own campaign entitled "Purely You",

which seems to piggyback off the HP idea.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilogy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Santa_Clause

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Santa_Clause

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Allen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_White

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_White

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay-Z

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Cuban

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Burnett

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharrell


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer


You + HP: digital photography:

A television ad campaign for Hewlett-Packard's digital

photography (titled "You + HP: digital photography") has been noted

for its simple special effects and choice of music. It won "Campaign of

the Year" from Adweek magazine in 2004.[9]

Songs used in "You + HP" Campaign:

"Picture Book" by The Kinks

"Out of the Picture" by The Robins

"Pictures of You" by The Cure

"The Rainbow" by The Apples in Stereo

"Across the Universe" by The Beatles

Competitors:

Major competitors of HP in the computer business include Apple

Inc., Dell, Gateway, Lenovo (Purchased IBM's Non-server Personal

Computer Business), Sony and Toshiba. Major competitors of HP in

the server business include Sun Microsystems, IBM and Dell. Major

competitors of HP in the printer business include Brother, Canon,

Epson, Lexmark and Dell (who rebrands and repackages Lexmark

products). Upon acquiring Voodoo PC, HP and its newest subdivision

will compete in the enthusiast market against Falcon Northwest,

Alienware (A division of Dell), WidowPC and other manufacturers.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WidowPC


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alienware

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Northwest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_PC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell%2C_Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexmark

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Industries



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Microsystems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenovo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway%2C_Inc.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apples_in_Stereo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Robins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kinks



Introduction to Marketing:

Evolution of Marketing:

Marketing has evolved from the time man existed on earth.

Following are the phases of development of marketing



Social Orientation

Production Orientation

Sales Orientation

Marketing Orientation

Consumer Orientation

Management Orientation

Barter system


Barter system: The goods are exchanged against goods without

any other medium of exchange like money.

Production orientation: This was the stage where producers,

instead of buying concerned with customer preference concentrating

on the mass production of goods for the purchase of profit.

Sales orientation: This stage witness major changes in all the

spheres of economic life. The selling activity becomes the dominating

factor without any efforts for the satisfaction of the consumer needs.

Marketing orientation: Customer’s importance was satisfied but

only as a means of disposing of goods produced competition become

more stiffer.

Consumer orientation: Under this stage only such products are

bought forward to the markets which are capable of satisfying of

taste and expectation of consumer satisfaction.

Management orientation: The marketing function assumes the

managerial role to co-ordinate all the interacting business with the

objectives of planning, promotion and distribution.

Social orientation: The companies are not only cares for consumers

but also for social welfare. Thus, social welfare becomes the added

dimension to the companies.




Definition of Marketing:

Philip Kotler

The marketing guru has said “Marketing is a social and

managerial process by which individuals and group obtain what they

need and want through creating, offering and changing products of

value with others”.

American marketing association

Addressed “marketing is the performance of business activities

that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer

to user”.

Cundiff and still

“Marketing is the business process by which products are

matched with market and through which transfers of ownership are

affected”.

In the words of Hansen

“Marketing is the process of discovering and translating

consumers needs and wants into product and services and

specifications, creating demand for these products and services and

then in term expanding demand.

By all these definitions we can derive that marketing is

compressive term that includes all resource and set of activities

necessary to direct and facilitate flow of goods and services from

producer to consumer in the process of distribution.




Objectives of Marketing:

At the end of all marketing activities is the satisfaction of

human wants and derive profits from them.

The following are the most significant objectives of

marketing.

Intelligent and effective application of modern marketing:

Today economic changing growth rate, relatively high inflation,

high interest rates, rapid technological change and new

aggressive rivals challenge marketing firm to adopt and

respond to change for survival and prosperity.

To develop the market field: Marketing is the most dynamic

field where change rules the roost. Change is continuing pre

occupation among marketers.

To develop and implement guiding policies for better results:

Innovative marketing guiding policies and their effective

implementation to assure better results.

To find sources for further information concerning the market

problems: The world of business in moving on the basis of

countless decisions, marketing decisions are more complex and

intricate having impinging impact on the very fortune of a

company.

To take appropriate and opportune action in the course of

working. The marketing information system designed by the

marketing organization helps in identifying the problem,




investigating analyzing it and interpreting the problem for the

final decision.

Functions of Marketing:

Marketing involves certain activities to make the goods from

producers to consumers. It consist of operations and an operation

may be performed several times either by a producer, middleman, till

the commodity finally reaches in the hand of consumers.

1. Functions of exchange

Exchange implies the transfer of goods and services money or

money’s worth. Exchange brings about change in the ownership of

goods. It is a two-way process invading two separate but supporting

activities viz, buying and selling.

Selling: Selling is the sum total of all those activities that push

the commodities to the buyers or consumers at a profitable

price. It is the process that involves personal and impersonal

efforts made in persuading the prospective customers to buy a

commodity or service.

Product planning and development: Product – planning is

the planning or forecasting what consumers want in terms of

quantity, quality, time, place, price, where as, product

development refers to making available such goods to meet

the requirement of consumers as demanded by them.




Demand Creation: It includes such special efforts to induce

and persuade the prospective users to purchase the products

of the seller only.

Negotiation: Negotiation as to terms of quality, quantity, price

of the product time and mode of transport payment etc… are to

be made with prospective buyers.

Contractual: Once the terms and conditions are settled

between buyers and sellers a final contract would be entered

into, where legally, ownership of goods passes on from seller to

buyer.

Buying: Buying is another function of exchange that refers to

all such activities involves in the assembling of goods under a

single ownership and control. Its immediate purpose is to bring

commodities together where they are wanted for use in

production for final consumption.

This buying function has following four elements:

Planning Assortments: Buyers are to study their own market

condition in order know the types quantity and quality of goods

that are required by final users.

Contractual: It is clothed with the selection of various sources

of supply, keeping in touch with them, to get the goods quickly

reasonably and regularly.




Negotiation: Buyers and sellers negotiate the terms and

condition of price quantity, quality and time of delivery,

transport & payment.

Contractual: It is the last phase that binds the parties of

exchange by means of a contract where the titles to the goods

more from seller to buyers.

2. Functions of Physical supply

These are the functions that are related with creation of place

and time utilities, they are:

Transportation: Transportation is the physical means to move

the goods and people from a place to another. It is essential

spoke in the wheel of market. It is responsible for the creation

of time utility

Storage: Storage is equally important that is creates time

utility. The products are to be preserved from time of

production to the time of consumption. It is the base of

consumers to get the goods as and when required.

3. Facilitating Functions

These are the function that facilitates the process of exchange.

Financing: Finance is the base for all marketing activities. It

makes the exchange process smooth and acts as lubricating oil

to the wheel of marketing.




Risk-bearing: Market risk are inherent so long the process of

exchange continues many risks are involved in marketing

which brings about changes in ownership, place etc…

Market information: The much desired success of marketing

depends on correct and timely decisions. These decisions are

based on market information. It includes all facts, estimates,

opinion, views, regarding the market

Standardization: Standardization helps on tackle certain

major problems of marketing. It is related with the division of

commodities into distinct groups standardization involves

establishment of certain criteria to which the goods must

confirm.

4P’s of Marketing:

In popular usage, "marketing" is the promotion of products,

especially advertising and branding. However, in professional usage

the term has a wider meaning which recognizes that marketing is

customer centered. Products are often developed to meet the desires

of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific

customers. E. Jerome McCarthy divided marketing into four general

sets of activities. His typology has become so universally recognized

that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have passed into the language.

The four Ps are:

Product: The Product management and Product marketing

aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_management

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(business)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jerome_McCarthy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising


goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user's needs

and wants.

Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a

product, including discounts. The price need not be monetary -

it can simply be what is exchanged for the product or service,

e.g. time, or attention.

Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion,

publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various

methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

Physical distribution refers to how the product gets to the

customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing.

This fourth P has also sometimes been called Place, referring to

the channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online

vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which

segment (young adults, families, business people), etc.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing

mix. A marketer can use these variables to craft a marketing plan.

The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low value consumer

products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products

require adjustments to this model.

Services marketing must account for the unique nature of

services. Industrial or B2B marketing must account for the long term

contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions.

Relationship marketing attempts to do this by looking at marketing

from a long term relationship perspective rather than individual

transactions.

As a counter to this, Morgan, in Riding the Waves of Change

(Jossey-Bass, 1988), adds "Perhaps the most significant criticism of

the 4 Ps approach, which you should be aware of, is that it



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_chain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B2B

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Services_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_plan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retailer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(business)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publicity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_promotion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promotion_(marketing)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user


unconsciously emphasizes the inside–out view (looking from the

company outwards), whereas the essence of marketing should be the

outside–in approach". Even so, having made this important caveat,

the 4 Ps offer a memorable and quite workable guide to the major

categories of marketing activity, as well as a framework within which

these can be used.

Market:

A market is a social arrangement that allows buyers and

sellers to discover information and carry out a voluntary exchange of

goods or services. It is one of the two key institutions that organize

trade, along with the right to own property. Allowing markets to

arrive at a Pareto efficient outcome is one of the key components of

capitalism.

In everyday usage, the word "market" may refer to the location

where goods are traded, sometimes known as a marketplace, or to a

street market.

Functions of a Market:

The function of a market requires, at a minimum, that both

parties expect to become better off as a result of the transaction.

Markets generally rely on price adjustments to provide information to

parties engaging in a transaction, so that each may accurately gauge

the subsequent change of their welfare. In less sophisticated

markets, such as those involving barter, individual buyers and sellers

must engage in a more lengthy process of haggling in order to gain

the same information. Markets are efficient when the price of a goods

or services attracts exactly as much demand as the market can

currently supply. The chief function of a market, then, is to adjust



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficiency_(economics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_economics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketplace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_efficient

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_(ownership_right)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Services

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goods

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information


prices to accommodate fluctuations in supply and demand in order to

achieve allocative efficiency. An economic system in which goods and

services are exchanged by market functions is called a market

economy. An alternative economic system in which non-market

forces (often government mandates) determine prices are called

planned economies or command economies. The attempt to combine

socialist ideals with the incentive system of a market is known as

market socialism.

Types of Market:

Although many markets exist in the traditional sense--such as a

flea market--there are various other types of them and various

organizational structures to assist their functions.

A market can be organized as an auction, as a shopping center,

as a complex institution such as a stock market, and as an informal

discussion between two individuals.

In economics, a market that runs under laissez-faire policies is

a free market. It is "free" in the sense that the government makes no

attempt to intervene through taxes, subsidies, minimum wages, price

ceilings, etc. Markets may be distorted by a seller or sellers with

monopoly power, or a buyer with monopsony power. Also, the level of

organization or negotiation power of buyers, markedly affects the

functioning of the market. Markets where price negotiations do not

arrive at efficient outcomes for both sides are said to experience

market failure.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_failure

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopsony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_ceiling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_ceiling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laissez-faire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea_market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_socialism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_economy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economy

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Market_function&action=edit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allocative_efficiency


Most markets are regulated by state wide laws and regulations.

While barter markets exist, most markets use currency or some other

form of money.

Markets of varying types can spontaneously arise whenever a

party has interest in goods or services that some other party can

provide. Hence there can be a market for cigarettes in correctional

facilities, another for chewing gum in a playground, and yet another

for contracts for the future delivery of a commodity. There can be

black markets, where a good is exchanged illegally and virtual

markets, such as eBay in which buyers and sellers do not physically

interact.

PERCEPTION:

Meaning of Perception:

“Perception is the process of electing, organizing and

interpreting or attaching meaning to events happening in

environment”.

Perception is something more than sensation. It co-relates ,

integrates comprehends the various sensation and information

received from different organs of the body by means of which a

person develops his sensitivity to various things and objects.

Perception is determined by both physiological and psychological

factors. This is because perception is developed based on previous

experience (learning), feeling and motives. Whereas sensation only

activates the sensory organs of the body. Simply stated, activation of

the ears to hear what another person is saying is sensation and the

inference of what is heard is perception.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law


Selective Attention:

There is a tendency among people to consciously

see and hear only certain aspects of the advertising

message which is being communicated.

EXTERNAL FACTORS INTERNAL FACTORS

Selective ExposureSelective Attention

Intensity and size Reception, comprehension

and Retention

Position Perceptual vigilance

Contrast Expectation

Novelty

Repetition Subliminal Perception

Movement



PERCEPTION


Perception is a selective process. Usually, people are able to

sense and receive only limited information from the environment and

hence are characteristically selective. During this process of

selection, certain aspects of stimuli are screened out and others

admitted. These aspects of the stimuli which are admitted remain

and fall within the threshold of the person, while those which are

screened out fall out or below the threshold limit.

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FACTORS

The manner in which either a production or service is perceived

will depend upon both internal and external factors. This is to say

that both external reality and internal reality are intertwined. As

human being we carry all of our experience in our mind and have our

own selfish interests, needs, motives, and expectations into the way

which we could like ‘reality’ to exist in the world.

EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING ATTENTION

Intensity and size: The brighter the sound (intensity) or more

louder the sound , the more likely the person’s attention is drawn to

it. For instance, advertisers use this characteristic to draw the

attention of the readers or viewers. Large sized advertisement in a

newspaper or magazine will be noticed and also read more often than

a small insertion given although the increase in size may not be

linear.




Position: The position of display of the product or

advertisement also is determining factors of attracting the

attention. An advertisement placed next to a compatible

editorial column of magazines, and newspaper is thought to

attract more readership response.

Contrast: Human beings have the ability to adapt to sound,

odors, pain, bright lights, neon signs and movements. That is,

human beings are able to use sensory organs to adapt

themselves to various stimuli. This is where contrast will help in

the perception process.

Novelty : It has been observed by marketers that anything

which is different from what are normally expect tend to attract

attention like an unusual bottle shape or a perfume strips in a

magazine and so on.

Repetition: Advertisements are repeated more often to

enable consumers for brand recall as well as stimulate them

and create a strong desire for interest in the purchase of the

product.

Movement: Advertisers have also started using billboards or

hoardings with movement. Mobile vans etc. so as to inject a

feeling of movement into it. Many marketers are finding out

smarter ways to reach out too to the consumer by organizing

some movementful activities like holdings free trails.

Demonstrations, exhibitions, mobile vans etc. such exercise




could also result in creating excitement and reinforce top of

mind recall.

INTERNAL FACTORS:

Customers may not receive the messages passively. Usually

customers may take the message given to them by the marketers

and then use it so that is may fit into their own internal world and

then try to work out in their mind about clues to determine the

brands capability. Marketers are interested in knowing what is the

impact of their usage of marketing mix elements on the minds of the

consumers. The marketer has to constantly understand “what is

going on in the consumers mind there”.

Selective Exposure:

Through selective exposure people try to avoid coming into

contact with or avoid any message that may go against or be

contradictory to the strongly held beliefs and attitudes. A person’s

beliefs very strongly influence his perception about people or things.

Because of this, a fact is conceived not on what it is but on what a

person believes it to be. Thus the individual normally puts a

censorship on the stimulus (inputs) to avoid disturbance of this

existing beliefs and value. This is also known as maintains of

cognitive consistency.

Selective Reception, Comprehension and Retention:

There is a natural tendency among people to notice the stimuli

such that the information received will fit into his or his existing




mindset. People are selective in their tendency to receive

certain information and retain it in such a way that will support

their preconceptions.

Perceptual Vigilance Or Defence: Perceptual defence refers

to the individual being vigilant and screening out of those

stimuli or elements which create conflict or may give rise to a

threatening situation. The consumers may subconsciously

screen out the stimulus which is found to be psychological

threatening, even if the exposure has taken place. They may

even perceive other factors to be present, which may not be a

part of the stimulus situation.

Expectation: Expectation affects what a person perceives.

Expectation refers to the state of anticipation of a particular

behavior from a person. Even in marketing, people often

perceive what they expect to perceive rather than the message

they actually receive.

Subliminal Perception: Subliminal perception is used to

describe something that is below the level of perception.

People can get stimulated below their conscious awareness

level. Such persons can perceive stimuli without being

consciously aware that they are doing so.




DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

Table 1

No of respondents aware of HP range of Laptops

Variables

No of Respondents

Percentage of Respondents

Yes 83 83%

No 17 17%

Total 100 100%




Graph 1

Respondant's awareness about HP Laptops

83

17

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

dan

ts

Yes

No

Source : Field Survey

Concept

This question is asked in the very beginning of the

questionnaire in order to assess if the respondent is aware of Hewlett

Packard’s Range of Laptops. This also helps us to understand the

responses better as individuals who are aware about Hewlett Packard

laptops would be able to form better and accurate perceptions. This

would also thereby help us to analyze and give recommendations

accurately.

Analysis

The above graph shows that a majority 83% of the respondents

are aware of Hewlett Packard’s Range of Laptops. The remaining 17%

are unaware of Hewlett Packard’s Range of Laptops.




Interpretation

From the graph it is clear that a majority of respondents are

aware of Hewlett Packard’s range of laptops. This is a favorable

condition as the number of people who are unaware of their range of

laptops are 17%.

Table 2

No of Respondents owning a Hewlett Packard

Laptop

Variables

No of Respondents


Yes 26 26%

No 74 74%




Total 100 100%

Graph 2

Respondents Ownership of HP Laptop

26%

74%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Yes

No

Source: Field Survey

Concept

This question intends to find out whether the respondents own

or previously owned a Hewlett Packard laptop. This question allows

us to know, how many among the respondents are using a Hewlett

Packard Laptop now or previously.

Analysis

From the graph we come to know that 26% of the respondents

are not using HP laptops. The remaining 74% of respondents do not

own a HP Laptop.




Interpretation

A majority of the respondents were not owning a Hewlett

Laptop. This could also include a majority of users not owning a

laptop at all. The remaining 26% of respondents have used a Hewlett

Packard Laptop. This includes both, the people who currently own a

HP laptop and also those who have used it in the past.

Table 3

Respondents responses to whether HP Manufactures

the best range of laptops

Variables

No of Respondents


Strongly Agree 12 12%

Agree 56 56%




Disagree 21 21%

Strongly Disagree 4 4%Don’t Know / Can't Say 7 7%

Total 100 100%

Graph 3

Responses to whether HP manufactures Best Laptops

12%

56%

21%

4% 7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know / Can't Say


Concept

This question was asked in the form of a statement as to

whether the respondents would agree that Hewlett Packard

manufactures the best range of laptops. This question was asked to

measure the level to which the respondents perceived that the

laptops manufactured by Hewlett Packard was the best available in

the market.




Analysis

From the graph it can be observed that 12% of the respondents

strongly agree that Hewlett Packard manufactures the best range of

laptops. 56% of the respondents agree with the statement. 21% of

the respondents perceive that HP doesn’t manufacture the best

range of laptops. Another 4% of the respondents strongly disagree

that HP manufacture the best range of laptops. 7% of the

respondents do not have any perceptions as they don’t know or

cannot tell their opinion about whether HP Laptops manufactures the

best range of laptops in the market.

Interpretation

The responses got for this question has been favorable to an

extent to Hewlett Packard. A majority of respondents fall in the

category of “Strongly Agree” and “Agree”. Which in turn means

that they hold a positive perception about HP’s ability to manufacture

the best range of laptops. At the same time, more than 30% of the

respondents question the ability of HP to manufacture the best range

of laptop. Among these, 21% of the people disagree with the

statement. Another 4% strongly disagree with the statement.

Table 4

Respondents perception about the prices quoted for Hewlett Packard Laptops

Variables

No of Respondents


High Priced 18 18%




Same as Competition 53 53%

Value for Money 21 21%

Low Priced 8 8%

Total 100 100%

Graph 4

Respondents perception about the pricing of Hewlett Packard Laptops

18%

53%

21%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts High Priced

Same as Competition

Value for Money

Low Priced


Concept

The question asks the respondents what they perceive the

price of Hewlett Packard laptop is. This question will help us

understand what the customers feel about the price of the laptop

when compared to other laptops available in the market.

Analysis

From the graph, we can see that 18% of the respondents feel

that Hewlett Packard Laptops are highly priced. 53% of the




respondents feel that the pricing of Hewlett Packard Laptops are the

same as the prices quoted on competing brands. Out of the

remaining respondents, 21% of them feel that they are value for

money. The remaining 8% feel that Hewlett Packard’s laptops are low

priced.

Interpretation

From the graph we can infer that majority of respondents feel

that the pricing of Hewlett Packard Laptops are the same as the

competing laptops. This might work against the interests of HP if

customers don’t find any difference in the product offering of HP

laptops. 18% of the respondents who feel that HP laptops are high

priced are also a cause for concern. These respondents feel that they

do not derive an equal or more than equal level of satisfaction from

the laptops for the money they pay for it.

It is important for HP to increase the percentage of people who

feel that HP laptops are value for money as only 21% of customers

feel that they are value for money laptops. The remaining 8% feel

that Hewlett Packard laptops are low priced, which means that they

find the competing laptop prices more than the prices quoted for

Hewlett Packard laptops.

Table 5

Respondent’s perception about the quality of

Hewlett Packard Laptops

Variables

No of Respondents





High Quality 39 39%

Medium Quality 58 58%

Low Quality 3 3%

Total 100 100%

Graph 5

Respondents perception about the Quality of Hewlett Packard Laptops

39%

58%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

High Quality

Medium Quality

Low Quality


Concept

This question tries to find out the respondents perceptions

about the quality level of Hewlett Packard Laptops. Quality plays a

key role in helping the customers to choose a laptop.




Therefore this question would asses the level of quality which

the respondents would like to assign for the Hewlett Packard range of

laptops.

Analysis

From the graph we can say that 39% people feel that Hewlett

Packard laptops are of high quality and a majority of 58% people

perceive Hewlett Packard laptops as a medium quality laptop. The

remaining mere 3% people perceive it as a maker of low quality

laptops.

Interpretation

From the table and graph, we can interpret that the responses

given by the respondents regarding their perceptions about Hewlett

Packard Laptops are neither too favorable to HP nor too unfavorable

to HP. 58% of the respondents feel that Hewlett Packard

manufactures laptops which are of medium quality. 39% of people

feel that Hewlett Packard are of high quality. Only 3% people

perceive Hewlett Packard as a maker of low quality laptops.

In competition, it is necessary for Hewlett Packard to ensure

that a majority of customers feel that it makes high quality laptops.

Table 6

Respondent’s Ranks to Various Brands

HPSony Vaio

IBMCompaq

Acer DellToshiba

Rank 1 10 32 14 4 1 17 13




Rank 2 29 21 11 12 1 17 5

Rank 3 20 15 17 13 2 18 8

Rank 4 16 11 24 14 5 16 5

Rank 5 8 3 15 28 15 11 9

Rank 6 3 6 5 12 39 9 17

Rank 7 4 2 4 8 28 4 38

Graph 6

Respondent's Ranks to various brands

0102030405060708090

100

HP

Sony

Vaio IBM

Compa

qAce

rDell

Toshib

a

Brands

Pe

rce

nta

ge

of

Re

sp

on

da

nts

Rank 7

Rank 6

Rank 5

Rank 4

Rank 3

Rank 2

Rank 1


Concept

This question was asked with the intention of finding out how

the respondents rank the quality of the Hewlett Packard laptop

against other major brands available in the market. This would help




us understand the customer perceptions about Hewlett Packard

laptops in a much better way than if we had studied the quality of HP

in independence.

Analysis

From the graph we can make out that the brand which scores

the highest in rank 1 is Sony Vaio. The next brand is Hewlett Packard

which come the highest in the second rank. The brand which most

people perceive as rank 3 is also Hewlett Packard. A majority of

people feel IBM is the brand which comes fourth in terms of quality.

Compaq comes fifth in terms of quality. Acer comes sixth in terms of

quality and the brand with the least rank is Toshiba.

Interpretation

From the graph, we can make various observations. Though

Hewlett Packard has performed extremely well in this question, there

are certain important observations which is of concern. Firstly, a

majority of the customers feel that Sony Vaio is a better brand than

Hewlett Packard. Therefore Sony Vaio qualifies as one of the major

competitor for Hewlett Packard. But Hewlett Packard leads in the

rank two and rank three positions which infact out numbers Sony

Vaio.

Table 7

Exlusivity of HP laptops

Variables No of Percentage




Respondents

of Respondents

Strongly Agree 11 11%

Agree 54 54%

Disagree 20 20%

Strongly Disagree 8 8%Don’t Know / Can't Say 7 7%

Total 100 100%

Graph 7

Respondents perception about the Exclusivity of Hewlett Packard's Range of Laptops

11%

54%

20%

8% 7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree



Concept

This question was asked to find out the respondent’s

perception about whether Hewlett Packard’s range of laptops are




exclusive or not. This would helpful in our analysis as the brands that

have a exclusive range of laptops would benefit in the long run.

Analysis

From the graph, we can analyze that 11% of the people

strongly agree that HP laptops are exclusive in terms of quality and

features when compared to the laptops of the competition. Another

54% of the respondents agree that HP laptops are exclusive. Apart

from these people, another 20% of the people disagree with the fact

that HP manufactures exclusive range of laptops. Another 8% people

strongly disagree with the fact that HP manufactures exclusive range

of laptops. 7% of the respondents do not have perception about this

as they are unaware and cannot tell their response.

Interpretation

From the graph, we can interpret that 11% of the people

strongly agree that HP Laptops are exclusive. These segment of

people might be those who have used the laptops and are very

happy with the performance. Another 54% of the respondents also

agree with this statement. These are again people who have either

used the laptop in the past or are currently using it. Apart from the

above two responses, the rest didn’t have a positive response to the

question. 20% of people disagree with the statement. These could be

people could be users of HP Laptops who are not satisfied with the

product or people who use a different range of laptop and are happy

with its performance.

Table 8




Awareness about product features

Variables

No of Respondents


Lightscribe Tech 17 17%

Quick Play 40 40%

Brightview Screen 43 43%

Total 100 100%

Graph 8

Respondents awareness about the product features available exclusively on HP Laptops

17%

40%43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Lightscribe Technology

Quick Play

Brightview Screen


Concept




This question checks how many people are aware of the some

of the most well known features of Hewlett Packard. This question

asks the respondents their awareness of respondents about three

major features of HP Laptops being Lightscribe Technology for

labeling discs by etching on them, Quickplay option which allows the

user to access multimedia without switching the computer on, and

Brightview screen which provides extra contrast and brightness to

the LCD screen.

Analysis

From the 100 respondents who were surveyed, only 17%

people were aware of Lightscribe technology, 40% were aware of

Quickplay feature and 43% of the respondents were aware of

Brightview Screen.

Interpretation

From the graph, we can infer that a majority of people are

unaware of the exclusive features available on Hewlett Packard

Laptops. This is not a good sign for Hewlett Packard which invests

millions of dollars in developing new technology. From the above

graph, we notice that only 17% people are aware of Lightscribe

technology, which is pioneered by HP. Also a 40% of the respondents

are aware of Quickplay and 43% of the respondents aware of

Brightview screen which is again not a good sign for Hewlett Packard.

This could be because of people’s lack of proper knowledge about HP

Laptops, Poor advertising and communication from Hewlett Packard

in educating the people about its product features etc.




Table 9

Respondent’s perception about the style and

appearance of Hewlett Packard Laptops

Variables

No of Respondents


V.Good 20 20%

Good 62 62%

Bad 7 7%

Very Bad 8 8%Don’t Know / Can't Say 3 3%

Total 100 100%

Graph 9

Respondents perceptions about the style and appearance of HP Laptops

20%

62%

7% 8%3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

V.Good

Good

Bad

Very Bad






Concept

The style and appearance is one of the most important feature

which a prospective buyer of Hewlett Packard Laptop will look for in a

laptop before making a purchase. This question intends to analyze

the respondents perception about what they feel about the style and

appearance of Hewlett Packard Laptops. The options range from

Very good to Very bad. This question will help us to understand

customer perception about Hewlett Packard laptops in a better way.

Analysis

From the graph, we can see that 20% of the respondents feel

that the style and appearance of the laptop is very good. A majority

of 62% of respondents feel that the style and appearance of the

laptop is good, though not very good. 7% of the respondents feel the

it is bad, another 8% feel it is very bad and 3% of the people have

reserved their response as they don’t know or cannot say.

Interpretation

From the graph we can infer that majority of respondents have

a positive image about the style and performance of Hewlett Packard

Laptops. Almost 80% of the respondents feel that the style and

design is either very good or good. This also explains why Hewlett

Packard is also one of the leading brands in laptop market in India

and the world.




Table 10

Respondent’s perception about the relationship

between the price and quality of Hewlett Packard

Laptops

Variables

No of Respondents


High Quality, Low Price

11 11%

High Quality, High Price

28 28%

High Quality, Value for Money

44 44%

Low Quality, High Price

17 17%

Low Qulaity, Low Price

0 0%

Total 100 100%

Graph 10




Respondents perceptions about the relationship between the price and quality of HP Laptops

11%

28%

44%

17%

0%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

tsHigh Quality, Low Price

High Quality, High Price

High Quality, Value forMoney

Low Quality, High Price

Low Qulaity, Low Price


Concept

This question is asked in order to find out respondent’s

perception about the relationship between the price and quality of

Hewlett Packard laptops. It is very important to understand the

relationship between the two as customers tend to relate the two of

these before they make a purchase.

Analysis

From the graph, we can see that 11% of the people feel of High

quality and low price, 28% feel it’s of high quality, high price. A

majority of 44% feel that HP laptops are value for money and have

high quality. Another 17% feel Hewlett Packard Laptops are having

low quality and high price. None of the respondents felt that HP

Laptops are of low quality and low price.

Interpretation




From the graph we can find that a majority 44% of them feel

that HP laptops are of high quality and value for money laptops. This

is very favorable to the customer as they generally expect laptops to

be of this kind while making a purchase. 28% of people feel that HP

Laptops are of high quality and high price. This could be attractive to

niche customers who look for high quality and do not bother about

the price. 17% people feel that HP laptops are of low quality, but

highly priced. This is unfavourable to the company. Overall we can

infer that respondents have a positive image about Hewlett Packard

Laptops in terms of their perceived relationship between quality and

price.

Table 11

Respondent’s opinion about the Ad campaigns of

Hewlett Packard Laptops

Variables

No of Respondents


Good 24 24%

Average 55 55%

Not Good 8 8%

Haven’t Seen / Not Noticed 13 13%

Total 100 100%




Graph 11

Respondents opinion about the Advertising Campaigns of HP laptops

24%

55%

8%13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Good

Average

Not Good

Haven’t Seen / NotNoticed


Concept

Advertising is one of the major tools which a company can use

inorder to increase the sale of their product. This question here tries

to find out the respondents opinion about the advertising campaigns

of HP laptops. This would help us understand what is the reach and

level of acceptance of the ad campaigns in the print and television

media.

Analysis

From the graph we can notice that 24% of the people feel that

the ad campaigns of Hewlett Packard laptops are good. A majority

55% feel the ads are average and not good. 8% of the respondents

feel the ads are not good and 13% of the people haven’t seen or not

have noticed the ads.




Interpretation

From the above graph and analysis, we can infer that a

majority of people feel that the advertising campaign of Hewlett

Packard Laptops are average. Which means that they do not think

they are very good. 24% people feel that the ad campaigns are good

which is favourable to HP. The remaining 8% of the people feel that

they are not good and 13% of the people haven’t seen or not noticed

the ads. This could mean that almost 20% of the people are either

not satisfied with the ads or that the ads are not catchy enough for

them to take notice. HP has to do a further analysis to find the

specific profile of this 20% respondents and check if they are

prospective customers or not.

Table 12

Factors which would induce a customer to buy a

HP Laptop

Variables

No of Respondents


Brand Name 14 14%

Quality 43 43%

Price 23 23%

After Sale Service 17 17%Don’t Know / Can't Say 2 2%




Other 1 1%

Total 100 100%

Graph 12

Factors which would induce a customer to buy a HP Laptop

14%

43%

23%17%

2% 1%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Brand Name

Quality

Price

After Sale Service


Other


Concept

This question tries to find out the parameters which would

induce the customer to buy a HP Laptop. This would give a clear

understanding of what the customer look for in a laptop and would

therefore help Hewlett Packard with the information which could help

them increase the sales of their laptops.

Analysis

From the graph, we can see that 14% people feel brand name

is the most important parameter in choosing a HP Laptop. A majority

43% feel quality alone is the most important parameter which would

help them decide. 23% feel it is price, and 17% feel its after sales




service. 2% people don’t know or cannot say and 1% have other

reasons.

Interpretation

From the graph, it is clear that majority of customer feel quality

is the most important aspect which would induce them to buy a

Hewlett Packard Laptop. After quality, feel give price of the laptop

and the after sales service provided the most important. One

interesting observation here is that people say the brand name is not

the most important thing which would induce them to buy. 1%

people had other reasons like free gifts, exchange offer, combo offers

etc which would induce them to buy a Hewlett Packard laptop.

Table 13

Respondent’s Choice of brand while buying a new

laptop.

Variables

No of Respondents


IBM 15 15%

Sony Vaio 31 31%

Compaq 5 5%




Hewlett Packard 26 26%

Dell 14 14%

Acer 1 1%

Other 8 8%

Total 100 100%

Graph 13

Respondent's Choice of Brand while buying a new laptop

15%

31%

5%

26%

14%

1%

8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

IBM

Sony Vaio

Compaq

Hewlett Packard

Dell

Acer

Other


Concept

This question intends to ask the final question to the

respondent’s as to which brand they would like to buy if they were to

buy a new laptop. Even though a customer might rank a brand higher

in individual parameters like quality and price, his final choice of

laptop might differ. Therefore this would give a clear picture of choice

of laptop as against the competitors.

Analysis




From the graph we can find out that 15% people prefer to buy

IBM laptops, as against 31% for Sony Vaio, 5% for Compaq and 26%

for Hewlett Packard. Apart from that, 14% people feel that they would

like to purchase a Dell Laptop. 1% people want to buy an Acer laptop

and 8% people would prefer other brands

Interpretation

We can hereby infer that majority of people prefer to buy Sony

Vaio range of Laptops. This is followed by Hewlett Packard. We can

therefore conclude that Sony Vaio is one of the major competitor for

HP Laptops. IBM with 16% of the people’s choice also is a strong

competitor for HP range of Laptops.

Table 14

Gender of the Respondents

Variables

No of Respondents


Male 64 64%




Female 36 36%

Total 100 100%

Graph 14

Gender of Respondents

64%

36%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Male

Female


Concept

The reason behind asking this question is to get to know the

gender of the respondents.

Analysis

From the graph we can see that 64% of the respondents who

were surveyed are male and 36% of them are female.




Interpretation

We can see that a majority of users of HP laptops are Male

when compared to females.

Table 15

Age Group of the Respondents

Variables

No of Respondents


15-20 18 18%




21-25 58 58%

26-35 12 12%

36-45 7 7%

> 45 5 5%

Total 100 100%

Graph 15

Age Group of Respondents

18%

58%

12%7% 5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

15-20

21-25

26-35

36-45

> 45


Concept

This question intends to find out the age group of respondents.

The age group is also one of the factors which would help us assess

the perceptions about the customers have about Hewlett Packard in a

better way.




Analysis

From the graph we can note that 18% of the respondents fall in

the 15-20 Age Category. 58% of the respondents age between 21-25.

Apart from them, 12% fall in the age category 26 – 35. 7% of the

respondents are in the age group of 36 – 45. The remaining 5% are

above the age group of 45.

Interpretation

We can hereby conclude that a majority of users of laptops are

in the age group of 21-25 when compared to other age groups

Table 16

Occupation of the respondents

VariablesNo of Responden

Percentage of




tsRespondents

Student 65 65%Working Professional 22 22%

Business 7 7%Teaching Academic 6 6%

Total 100 100%

Graph 16

Occupation of the Respondents

65%

22%

7% 6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Variables

Per

cen

tag

e o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Student

Working Professional

Business

Teaching Academic


Concept

This question intends to find out occupation of the respondents.

This will help us to segment the customers as the occupation of the




respondents would give us a clear picture of what purpose a laptop is

being used by the respondents.

Analysis

From the above graph we notice that 65% of the respondents

are students and 22% of the respondents are working professionals.

The remaining 7% are business men and 6% of them being in

academic and teaching professions.

Interpretation

From the graph, we can infer that majority of users of laptops

are students, which in this case are students studying business

management compared to other types of users. The next type of

users is primarily working professionals.

FINDINGS




It is known that globally Hewlett Packard is a leading brand in

the PC and Laptop business having a unassailable market

share. The sales of Hewlett Packard laptops are a whisker

higher than IBM as on 2006. It is seen from the analysis that a

majority of people are aware of Hewlett Packard’s range of

laptop. This can be attributed the global presence of the brand,

availability across major cities in the country, product range

and their quality levels. Also as we saw from the survey,

majority of people found the ads good and around average.

This also has led to better awareness of the brand in the minds

of the consumer.

Hewlett Packard is perceived as a maker of the best range of

laptops by the people. A majority of the respondents agreed

that Hewlett Packard makes the best range of laptop. The

people’s perception about Hewlett Packard laptop’s

performance is based on various factors like quality, price and

service provided. Also, since HP is a market leader people have

a good perception about the brand.

Quality plays a very important role when customers form

perceptions about a brand. In the case of Hewlett Packard

laptops, a majority of people don’t look at Hewlett Packard

laptops as having the best quality. Majority of people feel it has

medium quality. This could be because they feel its not as

great as another brand, unsatisfied with the performance,

faced technical problem with the laptop etc.




Majority of people feel that in terms of quality Sony Vaio is

better than Hewlett Packard laptops. When asked to assign

ranks to seven well know brands in the market, Sony Vaio got

maximum number of Rank 1. Followed by this Hewlett Packard

secured maximum number of Rank 2 and Rank 3. This put

together is more than the rank obtained by Sony Vaio in Rank 2

and Rank 3.

The main competitor for Hewlett Packard in terms of Quality is

Sony Vaio. As majority of people ranked Sony Vaio higher than

HP in terms of quality. This is closely followed by brands like

Dell, IBM and Compaq etc.

People agree that Hewlett Packard Laptops include a lot of

features which are exclusive to its laptops alone. But at the

same time people were not aware of the major technologies

and product features which are exclusively available on Hewlett

Packard Laptops like Lightscribe, Quickplay and Brightview

screens. This could be because HP hasn’t communicated these

technologies to the customers through their adversitements,

POPs etc well.

The advantage Hewlett Packard has is its product’s style and

appearance. People feel that the design, style and appearance

of the laptops are good. The new laptop ranges launched by HP

like DV9000 and DV6000 series are testimonies for these.

Again, this is a reinforcement of the fact that Hewlett Packard

Laptops are considered as the manufacturer of the best range

of laptops.




Hewlett Packard even though has a very good presence in the

minds of the people, the advertising campaigns were not very

much appreciated by the people. They feel that that the

advertising campaigns are average. A lot of respondents feel

that HP ads are filled with a lot of words and pictures and is

difficult to read.

When asked about which brand to buy, most of the people

preferred Sony Vaio over Hewlett Packard Laptop. This is also a

reinforcement of the previous finding that people perceive Sony

Vaio as a better quality laptop in comparison to Hewlett

Packard.




RECOMMENDATIONS

In today’s cut throat competition, the quality levels between

companies are bridging and the gap closing in. Therefore

companies have to maintain their levels of quality to the

highest order. In the case of Hewlett Packard, since people feel

that Hewlett Packard laptops are of medium quality, it should

take enough steps to ensure that people feel its of high quality.

The reality could be that Hewlett Packard could be a

manufacturer of high quality laptops. But it is necessary to

ensure that people perceive the brand in the same way. This

could be done through communication through advertisement,

better customer service, training the salesmen to communicate

about the quality to the customer at the time of purchase etc.

Hewlett Packard’s advertising campaign has been seen as

average and not very attractive. The advertising campaigns of

Hewlett Packard are characterized by international ads, with a

lot of words and pictures. People responded that the ads are

difficult to understand and lack Indian taste. Therefore it has to

improve the ads, try to ad an Indian touch and make it more

attractive.

A lot of customers feel that the pricing of laptops of Hewlett

Packard as the same as competition. In a country like India, it is




important to price lesser than the competition to survive and to

cater to a larger category of people.

Hewlett Packard has been setting industry standard features

which are exclusive to its range or laptops. But even then, the

awareness about their product features is not very high. This

again is due to lack of proper communication. Hewlett Packard

should give more importance to these product features and

increase awareness about them as it will help them to get more

sales.

Customers have a very good perception about the style and

appearance of the laptops. Hewlett Packard should ensure that

they use it to their advantage. And also Hewlett Packard should

ensure that their future products also maintain the same look

and design. To convince customers that their laptop designs

are the best, they can use the various awards and recognitions

that they have received for their laptops on their

advertisements.

From the current project survey, we could clearly make out that

there exists severe competition in the market. This can be

proved with reference to two distinct points. Firstly when asked

about which brand ranks the highest in terms of quality, most

of the respondents chose Sony Vaio. Secondly, when asked

about the brand they would like to buy in the future, majority of

customers again chose Sony Vaio. This clearly shows that Sony

Vaio is a clear competitor atleast in the minds of the consumer




for HP. It has to tackle this competition well inorder to derive

long term results.

It can tackle competition, by cutting costs, increasing market

share, reducing price below the competition etc.

From the survey we found that the majority of users of laptops

are students. These students are primarily students of

management, art, interior design etc where a laptop is of much

use. Also the second largest users of laptops are working

professionals primarily from computer field. Therefore Hewlett

Packard should focus on these group of customers

The major users of laptops are in the age group of 21-35 years

of age. These groups of customers include students, working

professionals, businessmen, housewives etc. Hewlett Packard

has to focus on these group of customers and possibly create a

separate product line for each of these customers to help

satisfy their needs in a better way.




CONCLUSION

Hewlett Packard today is a technology company operating in

more than 170 countries. This phenomenal growth was achieved over

the years with a lot of hard work, determination, calculated risks and

year after year of splendid performance.

In our survey we found that customers are satisfied and feel

that Hewlett Packard is a maker of quality laptops. Such positive

perceptions about Hewlett Packard could not have been built without

the support and work of each and every employee of Hewlett

Packard. And with all their efforts put together, Hewlett Packard is

helping explore how technology and services can help people and

companies address their problems and challenges, and realize their

possibilities, aspirations and dreams. HP applies new thinking and

ideas to create more simple, valuable and trusted experiences with

technology, continuously improving the way our customers live and

work.

Hewlett Packard has become synonymous with Laptops and

Personal Computers India today and with the industry bound to grow

more and more for the years to come, the things only look brighter.




Along with HP, the opportunities and the space to operate will be

available to other manufacturers of laptops as well. Thus, there are a

lot of opportunities to harbor clean and healthy competition among

the PC Manufacturers.

BIBILIOGAPHY

Books:

C.R. Kothari (1998), Research Methodology (2nd edition)

Vishwa Prakashan, 4835/24, Ansari Road, Durgaganj, New Delhi

– 110002.

S.L. Gupta (1999), Marketing Research, Am Excel Publishers

Pvt. Ltd., A-45, Naraina, Phase-1, New Delhi – 110028.

Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong (2005), Principles of

Marketing (4th Indian Edition) Pearson Education, Inc, Indian

Branch, 482, F.I.E Patparganj, Delhi 110092, India

Websites:

www.google.co.in

www.wikipedia.org



http://www.wikipedia.org/

http://www.google.co.in/


http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/

http://welcome.hp.com/country/in/en/prodserv.html



http://welcome.hp.com/country/in/en/prodserv.html

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/

Documents

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