HP Could Expand Market Share??

The experts over at Barron's tend to think the current slow down could be a plus for HP and allow them to expand, while the likes of Canon, Ricoh, KonicaMinolta are all revising their forecasts lower it seems like HP is still riding the wave of rising growth and profits.

Article here at Barron's:

"While other tech giants are revising earnings forecasts downwards, Hurd expects HP's earnings to continue growing through next year, albeit modestly. Consensus estimates for FY 2009 EPS come in at $3.84, up from FY 2008 EPS of $3.62. In FQ4, HP beat market expectations with EPS of $1.03 vs. $1.00 consensus and a 19% rise in revenue to $33.6B"

Not selling consumer printers is good for HP? Seems that the consumer printers are a lost leader, meaning that HP will sell the printers at a loss in order to get the ongoing supply revenue.

"Another point of note is HP's revenue from the consumer market. Around 25% of HP's sales come from consumer products, and the firm boasts the third-highest consumer revenue among computer-electronics firms, behind Apple (AAPL) and printer-maker Lexmark (LXK). As such, the downturn in the consumer market has hurt HP. Interestingly, however, a drop in printer sales could mean higher overall margins since printers lose money at retail. Hurd believes a drop in printer sales isn't a bad thing in the short-term, especially considering research that shows people are keeping their printers longer."

Actually, now may be the right time for HP to buy the likes of Canon, Oce, KonicaMinolta or maybe Toshiba or Panasonic's Copier division. Heck, if Ricoh can buy Ikon, and KonicaMinolta can buy Danka, then why can't HP purchase one of these guys. It would be a great move at this time while stock prices and earnings are down.

Are we ready for round three in 2009?

-=Good Selling=-

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