In an attempt to position itself as the dominant vendor for client devices, Compaq has realigned its family of professional end-user PCs, notebooks, palmtops and Internet devices, simplifying the product line, and bringing the entry price points down for some of the devices.
"We have had multiple product lines until now, and we are pulling that into one product line," comments Charlene Travis, Commercial Product Computing, Compaq.
Compaq started the realignment in July, with the announcement of the Deskpro EN PC. Compaq added the EX and EN Lite to the family today, targeting the EN Lite at customers looking for a slim form factor, and the EX at price-sensitive customers. "The introduction of the EX today completes our realignment," comments Travis.
The EN Deskpro is designed to reduce total cost of ownership for large organisations. An extended product lifecycle (nine to twelve months) is preferred to the keeping up with the latest technology. Available in multiple form factors, this device is expected to move through the tier 1 VAR channel.
The EX has a significantly lower life cycle of three to four months, but comes in at a much lower price point. Compaq believes that the device will appeal to SMEs and price sensitive organisations such as schools. Compaq hopes to attract the box-dropper resellers with this product, and compete with the white-box brands.
Compaq expects its Internet Access business to grow tremendously, and predicts 90% of its end-user devices will fall under this category by 2005. The iPaq desktop is now available locally, but not in quantity. Customers who order an iPaq can expect a three to four week wait for Compaq to ship them in from Europe. The iPaq palmtop is also in short supply due to unexpected over-demand.
Other announcements made by Compaq today include the TFT5005 15" flat panel TFT retailing for R9 900.00, the Armada 100s (replacing the Notebook 100), the iPaq desktop available in a 733MHz PIII flavour, and two new projectors - the MP 1400 and MP1800 - now with a remote control.
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