Mobility is becoming an increasingly exciting space for HP as improved technology drives innovations and new trends, says Paul Boshoff, South African country manager for HP`s Personal Systems Group.
"In SA, non-mobile, which is really desktops, is experiencing 8% to 10% growth," says Boshoff. "Mobile is growing more than 35%, admittedly off a smaller base. These are BMI figures.
"For every four end-user devices sold, one is a notebook. I believe that in the second half of this year it will move to two. This makes it very attractive to us."
Boshoff says mobility has implications for productivity, with a 2004 Meta Group report indicating that the use of notebooks led to a gain of six hours of useful work per employee per week.
However, he emphasises that HP has no intention of abandoning the desktop. "In SA we are the number one or number two desktop manufacturer, depending on which quarter you look at. It`s always either us or Mecer.
perception
"Corporates are also hesitant to abandon desktops as there is a security perception around notebooks, for example the fact that people can lose them." Boshoff adds that according to one survey, 85 000 end-user devices were left behind in taxis in the US last year.
HP and its peers are addressing mobile security issues, with biometrics already becoming more mainstream for user authentication in handheld devices and notebooks.
In the longer term, likely developments include near-field communication (short-range wireless for secure m-commerce applications and alternatives to security tokens), and anti-virus technologies that don`t look for viruses, but virus-like behaviour, taking evasive action without prior knowledge of a virus.
"People also often prefer desktops at home because they like the modular approach. If a VGA (video graphics array) card crashes, they can get another.
"There`s always room for desktop, but it`s just not as exciting as mobility at the moment."
Converged devices
Other innovations likely to be seen in the mobility arena in coming years include always-on devices, enabled by emerging battery chemistries. This will also lead to auxiliary displays that provide instant access to critical information even when a notebook is off or in a low-power state.
"The traditional PDA market looks like the desktop market. In fact, it`s even declining," says Boshoff. "But converged devices - phone and PDA - are growing rapidly.
Next month HP is to release its iPAQ hw6900 series Mobile Messenger - a smart device that incorporates the push e-mail functionality in Microsoft`s Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0.
"It`s a converged device - phone and PDA," Boshoff says. "HP customers will now be able to utilise Microsoft push technology without having to download any other e-mail software. We`re excited about it."
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