In part one of CDN’s interview with Leyland Brown, the head of HP’s Personal Systems Group in Canada revealed her thoughts on a busy, somewhat turbulent year for the company.
Read part one here: 2011 Newsmaker of the Year: Leyland Brown of HP Canada- Part One
In part two, Brown discusses one of the year’s trendy topics: the alleged death of the PC.
PC still alive
Besides answering questions from a demanding channel about HP’s direction with PSG, Brown also battled two trends that would impact the business greatly: Bring your own device (BYOD) and the death of the PC.
According to Gartner Research, 90 per cent of organizations will support corporate applications on personal devices by 2014. Brown challenged both trends, saying that the PC is the farthest thing from dead with only an 18 per cent penetration rate across the globe. “There is even a tremendous amount of growth in Canada for PCs.”
Related story: Top issue of 2011: The alleged death of the PC
As for BYOD, Brown is treating it as a big opportunity for HP in the consumer space.The company has an HP store in Vancouver and plans to operate another in Winnipeg in partnership with solution provider PowerLand. Also, HP Canada has put forth plans to have the biggest retail footprint of any vendor. For example, HP will have a dedicated table of products in Best Buy.
“I’d said that if BYOD takes off we still only have 30 per cent penetration and no one wants to cough up their own hard-earned dollars for a device that an employer will benefit from. People like me want the corporation to pay for the device and that will make them more productive. Productivity is the key. It has to be about productivity and we’re going to continue to raise that level in Canada with customers. That’s the competitive edge they are looking for; not what’s sexy or newest or greatest, but what will give us the best return,” she said.
