HP focuses on R&D and operates globally. It has a strong personal systems portfolio but faces patent infringement issues. The printing segment contributes significantly to revenue but declining sales are a weakness. Opportunities include new product launches, strategic partnerships, and growing markets, but threats include rapid technology changes, competition, and the trend toward paperless work.

3. Strengths Weakness
Research and Development
Activities
Operations in Diverse
Regions
Personal Systems Portfolio
Patent Infringement Concerns
Business Performance:
Printing Segment
Opportunities Threats
Product Launches
Strategic Collaborations
Global Printing Inks Market
Rapid Technological Changes
Competitive Environment
Growing Trend of Paperless
Work

4.  HP focuses on research and development (R&D), which helped
it maintain and enhance its competitive position.
 HP Labs primarily focuses on the development of cloud,
security and information optimization solutions.
 It also works on several major areas such as mobility, content
and printing, sustainability, and future computing platforms and
capabilities.
 In FY2015, HP incurred
expenditure of US$3,447 million on its R&D activities, which as a
percentage of revenue stood at 3.1%.

5. HP is one of the leading global providers of products and
services.
The company offers its products and services worldwide
through a strong network of channels.
The company operates its major product development,
manufacturing and data centers in several countries.
In FY2015, the company reported 63.6% of revenue from
outside the US and 36.4% from the US.

6. The company offers a robust Personal Systems portfolio, which
provides it a competitive edge over its peers.
HP’s Personal Systems portfolio comprises a comprehensive
range of commercial PCs, consumer PCs, workstations, thin client
PCs, tablets, retail POS systems, calculators and other related
software and accessories.
An established Personal Systems portfolio enabled the
company to become one of the top three vendors in the global
PC market.
It has been ranked among the top five in the laptop market in
China for several years.

7. The company is involved in patent infringement issues, which
led to litigations.
HP is also one of the several defendants in patent infringement
lawsuits filed by e.Digital asserting its US Patent No. 5,839,108.
Patent infringement litigations are expensive to defend and
can result in the award of damages
and injunctions that could prevent the manufacture and sale of
products

8. The Printing segment is one of the major
contributors to the company’s revenue. It
accounted for 19.8% of the company’s total
revenue in FY2015.
Declining sales from this segment hampers the
growth of the company.

9. HP continues to develop innovative products to meet the
growing needs of its customers.
HP is well positioned to deliver unparalleled value through
innovative products and solutions.
In 2016, the company launched HP Chromebook 11 G4
Education Edition (EE), a durable, lightweight Chromebook for
students and educators.
It also announced enhancements to its consumer premium PC
portfolio.

10. The company maintains strategic collaborations with leading
industry players which give it a competitive edge.
These collaborations generate capital for the company and
strengthen its research and development activities.
Digital printing is one of the fastest growing segments in
packaging with a projected annual growth rate of 17% in a market
expected to be reach US$19 billion by 2019.
The collaboration with HTC enhances gaming user experience.

11. The global printing ink market is expected to reach
US$18.19 billion by 2017.
Geographically, the US, Europe, Asia Pacific, China, and
India are expected to be the fastest growing market for
printing inks.
Such potential market for printing inks could help HP
undertake expansion and improve its revenue in the
future.

12. The introduction of products using new technologies
or the adoption of new industry standards can make the
existing products or products under development
obsolete or unmarketable.
In order to remain competitive and in order to increase
its sales, the company needs to adapt to the rapidly
changing business environment.

13. The major competitors in the Printing segment include
Canon USA, Inc., Lexmark International, Inc., Xerox
Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation, Samsung
Electronics Co. Ltd., and Dell.
In most of the segments, competitors resort to price
cutting measures, as a means to expand their market
share.
Such fierce competition in the markets served by the
company could affect its business and market position.

14. Paper-related systems and products are being replaced
by digital content.
Emails and digital documents are increasingly replacing
traditional means of sending and storing information.
The shifting trend to digitization of information could
become a major challenge to companies such as this.