HP cuts contract manufacturers

Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co, the world's largest PC firm, has been slashing the number of contract manufacturers used by its printing division since the downturn in 2009, a senior executive has said.

Vyomeh Joshi, the global head of HP's imaging and printing division, said in an interview in Hong Kong: "When the economy was doing great, we were shipping more and more units, probably we were not efficient.

"So when the economy went down and people were delaying buying decisions, we took a look and said we don't need all this."

However, he declined to name specific companies. He said cost savings derived from simplifying its supply chain had been used in research and expanding its sales team.

A series of web-enabled printers - which will allow printing from mobile devices such as an iPhone or a laptop PC - are to be launched in Asia, a move that would help the company achieve a double-digit percentage growth in the number of printer units sold this year.

Mr Joshi said: "What we need to do is to continue to capture all the pages - that's how we can continue to grow."

The imaging and printing division, with about 2,500 companies as its customers, is one of the most profitable businesses of HP. It accounts for about a fifth of the company's revenue but about a third of its operating profit.

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