In the recently held Global Partner conference (GPC) on 12th September in Boston, HP Inc organised an exciting agenda with insightful presentations, where the top leadership and 1300 plus key partners from across the globe were present. The company made the announcement to acquire Samsung Electronics Co., a South Korean Major’s printer business in a deal valued at $1.05 billion for expansion into high-volume printer-copier business.
Technology is really evolving and technology has become more of a game changer that can spur top-line growth and create new business models and for this consolidation is a must. HP is geared up to disrupt the $55 billion copier market opportunity for the global partners. Since the existing copier technology is outdated, HP is value adding by investing to reinvent and replace copiers with superior multifunction printer (MFP) technology.
In an exclusive interaction, Dion Weisler, president and CEO, HP Inc. said “When we became a separate company just 10 months ago, it enabled us to become nimble and focus on accelerating growth and reinventing industries, and we were doing this with 3D printing and the disruption of the $12 trillion traditional manufacturing industry. Now we are going after the $55 billion copier space. The acquisition of Samsung’s printer business allows us to deliver print innovation and create entirely new business opportunities with far better efficiency, security, and economics for customers.â€
The acquisition will include intellectual property of more than 6,500 printing patents with a workforce of about 6,000 employees globally, including 1,300 researchers and engineers.
Integrating the Samsung printer business’ products, including their mobile-first and cloud-first user experience, with HP’s next-generation PageWide technologies will create a breakthrough portfolio of printing solutions with the industry’s best device, document and data security and is expected to hit the market by 2017.
With today’s launch and new channel programs, HP can now deliver the industry’s most advanced lineup of A3 MFP and A4 laser print solutions for the office that reflects the transition of the ongoing industry to everything as a service and contractual versus transactional sales.
“The complexity of traditional copiers makes repair and maintenance too inefficient for our partners and customers,†said Enrique Lores, president, Imaging & Printing, HP Inc. “By leveraging our superior printing technology, we can change the status quo with next-generation A3 multifunction printers that improve the overall customer and partner experience while also serving as a springboard for growth in managed print and document services. This is what we mean by reinventing printing.â€
Satya Nadella, CEO - Microsoft with Dion Weisler, president and CEO, HP Inc. during the Q&A session[/caption]
Acquiring Samsung’s printer business will also strengthen HP’s ability to service customers in global laser printing. Additionally, in the A4 category where it has enjoyed a strong, mutually beneficial partnership with Canon for more than three decades, HP is confident that this transaction will provide new opportunities to further strengthen and accelerate this highly valued relationship. This transaction is expected to close within 12 months pending regulatory review and other customary closing conditions.
“The new HP A3 portfolio and channel program will empower HP’s partners in a region where we are aggressively pursuing growth through innovation and contractual services,†added ?Richard Bailey, President, Asia Pacific & Japan, HP Inc.
With a clear focus on reinvention, HP announced a six-year agreement to deploy Microsoft Dynamics customer relation management (CRM) online in order to enhance collaboration across marketing, sales and service operations. During a Q&A session with Dion Weisler, CEO - HPI and Satya Nadella, CEO - Microsoft, the latter spoke about how IT is power the customers and with the Industry going under transformation and the rising of opportunities, Microsoft is seeing itself turn into a platform and partner company. “Fundamentally we build the platform and that transforms the customers. IT spending is going faster than GDP and IOT is everywhere. Similarly Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered bots will become the next interface, shaping our interactions with the applications and devices we rely on. Microsoft’s latest solutions are set to change the way HP interacts with its customers and partners,†said Satya Nadella, CEO - Microsoft.
“Bots are now learning in human context and the relevant thing for us is to make them intelligent as we learn from customers’ experience. Our solutions are going to give HP a 360-degree view of its customer services,†Nadella announced at HP’s Global Partner Conference (GPC) 2016.
“The needs and expectations of our customers are changing rapidly, and change creates opportunities for HP and our partners. HP operates to a very simple formula: the strength of the channel equals the health of HP Inc.,†said Dion Weisler. “Backed by the channel that is critical to our go-to-market strategy, HP’s innovations are powering business and industry transformations. Together, we can seize these new opportunities and drive profitable growth today and in the future.â€
HP is transforming business models together with its partners. Some of the other announcements include
• Updates to HP Partner First program, Co-Marketing Zone and Social Media Center designed to offer more value to partners and enable them to grow their businesses by tapping into industry trends.
• Partner First Specialist designation now available for HP Device as a Service (DaaS), giving qualified partners access to exclusive benefits.
