HP grows African focus

HP will increase its focus on markets in Africa, as the continent continues to show considerable growth.

Vincent Vanderpoel, VP of imaging and printing for HP EMEA, says although the company focuses on well-known emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, Africa will also now become a key focus area.

“We had initiatives running in Africa - but these were not necessarily linked to each other. What we are looking at now is creating a solid vision centred on the continent.”

Amr Hassan, GM of imaging and printing for HP EMEA, says the value of Africa is that it's a fast-growing market, which is “promising, in terms of infrastructure”. He adds that, as governments across the continent look to create knowledge-based societies and more companies are establishing businesses regionally, the continent has become increasingly important.

“What we are seeing is increased collaboration between regions - companies are expanding into other parts. There are no longer any solid boundaries as distributors and resellers are going regional in establishing businesses,” Hassan explains.

While some research firms predict hardware sales will take a slump in current market conditions, Vanderpoel says HP is not expecting this trend to hit the company.

“Printing spend will be scrutinised - but companies will not be spending less,” he says. The main objective of HP in the current economic climate will be to provide affordable, cost-saving printing solutions, he adds.

Africa will experience global events differently, notes Hassan. He says the continent is not necessarily going to experience reduced spending: “What we will see sometimes is delays on investments, but not a decline in spending. There is a positive growth trend in the region and we are still seeing many first-time buyers.”

Hassan says government initiatives, such as e-education, bandwidth projects and SME support, will spur growth. He notes these trends are transforming societies and the promotion of the private sector has resulted in the growth of SME markets on the continent.

According to Hassan, the low-end laser printing market is growing into the home area as an increasing number of people work from home. The SME space is also increasingly looking for improved solutions - and this has led to a growth in the colour-laser printer market.

Digital solutions are also becoming increasingly attractive in the region. Hassan notes its multifunction printer range now has digital offerings which can be integrated to networks. Vanderpoel says the shift to digital will require companies to rethink spending as they realise moves from analogue to digital data means that printing digital-on-demand can help cut back on generic printing costs.