Hewlett-Packard launched a new campaign to gain market share against IBM and
Sun Microsystems with a new line of HP Superdome Unix servers that start at
$400,000.
The Superdomes are hitting the market only slightly behind the original
November/December launch plan. Sun and IBM are expected to refresh their
high-end Unix lines later this spring and summer. HP is under pressure to
experience a strong roll-out of the Superdome systems which could contribute
significantly in HP’s attempt to achieve a 17 per cent 2001 sales growth rate
at a time when most of the company’s competitors are lowering sales growth
targets in view of the uncertain economy.
HP shares on Wall Street have remained fairly steady in the past month,
trading between $30 and $35 following a steep decline in the September and
October timeframe when investors dumped the stock over concerns of a risky
merger with PricewaterhouseCooper. That deal was called off in November.