HP CEO Enrique Lores said the company is looking at India to establish a broader presence, both through local manufacturing and by hiring top tech talent that significantly contributes to building software features that go into its products.
In addition to selling PCs, HP views India as a crucial market for fostering the creation of essential software characteristics that set the nation apart.
It is one of the biggest marketplaces in the world in terms of revenue, and we hold some of the biggest market shares worldwide in a variety of categories. This illustrates our capacity to engage with clients and expand our business, as well as the caliber of our domestic staff. It’s a crucial market from an internal standpoint as well. Here, we already carry out a great deal of internal research and development, which we apply to our globally marketed products.
Joining other prominent tech businesses that are pursuing the Asian market because of its enormous untapped consumer base and top talent, Lores has expressed optimism about the growth potential of the Indian market.
“We have the second highest number of employees in the world in India, and many of them are engineers who work exclusively in software development, which we will incorporate into the rest of the portfolio,” he stated.
HP, a manufacturer of PCs, laptops, printers, and other associated devices and services, has also been considering India as a potential location for its PC manufacturing. This helps the American computer manufacturer diversify its supply chain, which is important for both India and HP.
The local contract maker Dixon Technologies, which will produce laptops and desktops under the government’s performance-linked Make in India program, received an order from HP late last year. HP can provide its products at lower price points thanks to manufacturing in India, which increases its competitiveness.
“Starting to manufacture things in India in a major way is one of the major adjustments we have done in the previous 12 months. As you are aware, laws mandate that goods be manufactured locally. This April will be the first month that the new facility in India starts making notebooks, after our adoption of these regulations a few months ago. Lores stated, “We see this as the beginning of a much broader presence in the country.”
This shift to India is essential for HP. In an attempt to become less dependent on China, HP is one of the increasing number of businesses that are progressively shifting their production facilities and supply chains to other nations. Many consumer companies, particularly those that use China as a manufacturing location, have been obliged to lessen their excessive reliance on Chinese production facilities as a result of Washington’s escalating tensions with Beijing. Additionally, President Donald Trump’s tariffs on items made in China put businesses like HP and others at risk.
With the Indian government attempting to emulate what China accomplished first by establishing itself as a significant industrial base and providing access to a sizable, youthful population, many experts view India as a potential future alternative to China. Because of this, India is a special market that offers access to top talent as well as enormous growth potential.
In contrast to smartphones, PCs are still not widely used in India, which enables businesses like HP to expand their market reach and provide cutting-edge PCs with integrated AI capabilities.
Additionally, because the use cases are well defined, an increasing number of PC companies are aiming to market commercial AI PCs to SMBs and major organizations, where AI capabilities are widely adopted. International Data Corporation (IDC) reports that HP is the leading PC manufacturer in India based on market share.
Working with local authorities to create models that take advantage of the local culture is something we are not yet doing in India but are doing in other nations. In Spain, we are working with the government and local colleges to create a huge language model that is unique to Spanish and incorporates every facet of Spanish culture. In Saudi Arabia, we are also working on the same project and creating an Arabic version of the same concept. When asked how HP plans to incorporate locally produced AI models into its products, he responded, “We think this will have a lot of potential in countries like India as well.”
