[ Thanks to Jason
Greenwood for this link. ]
“HP has pursued a dual consumer-brand strategy, marketing the
Compaq Presario and HP Pavilion desktops. HP chose to make the
Pavilion into its high-end, consumer desktop machine, whereas the
Presario line offered a step down in available features, says Jim
McDonnell, vice president of sales and marketing in the personal
systems group at HP.“The result has seen HP jockeying with Dell for the glory of No.
1 PC maker, a game of PC-leapfrog analysts believe could last at
least through the end of this year.“Meanwhile, HP faces the risky proposition of supporting both
Linux and Microsoft. ‘Linux has created a new tension in this whole
ball game. Three or four years ago, OEMs placed their bets on
Microsoft or Microsoft. But Linux has created a new power dynamic,
and I think HP needs to play the Linux card very carefully and
shrewdly,’ says Dana Gardner, a vice president at Boston-based The
Yankee Group…”