HP launches compact computers for midsize firms
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) launched on Wednesday a compact computer system for medium-sized businesses, one of the technology industry's fastest-growing markets.
The system, a box-like unit named "Shorty," is just over 10 inches tall and accommodates as many as eight thin server computers known as blades that take up less space and consume less power than traditional servers. Businesses use servers to run networks and host Web sites.
HP said the system, which starts at $4,299, is less expensive and easier to use than comparable blade-based systems.
HP, like competitors Dell Inc (DELL.O) and International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), is selling more computers and services to small and medium-sized businesses as spending by large corporate customers such as banks and insurers slows.
Dell on Monday introduced a computer data-storage system designed for businesses with 20 or fewer employees. HP defines medium-sized businesses as having 100 to 1,000 employees.
"It's a huge market," Ann Livermore, HP's executive vice president in charge of its Technology Solutions Group, said in an interview. Her unit includes servers and storage systems. "It's a market that's screaming for information-technology solutions specifically designed for their needs," Livermore added.
HP, based in Palo Alto, California, has been courting small and medium sized businesses for several years and claims the largest share of the market for blade servers, Livermore said, citing an industry survey. HP's blade server revenue jumped 81 percent in its fiscal third quarter.
The new blade systems are "creating an even lower price point" for mid-sized businesses than HP's existing products for that market, she added.
HP on Wednesday also launched a blade server designed to store mid-sized businesses' growing volumes of computer data.
(Reporting by Philipp Gollner)
((Editing by Paul Thomasch; Telephone: +1 415 677-2547, E-mail: philipp.gollner@reuters.com)) Keywords: HEWLETTPACKARD SERVERS/
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