Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 21, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
HP Germany boss Martin Kinne told the «Financial Times Deutschland» this. The Compaq brand is to be brought back to the German market. «We will reintroduce Compaq in January,» Kinne said. Notebooks and desktop computers in the lower price segment are to be offered under Compaq.
Compaq was once one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world before the US group was bought by rival HP for 19 billion dollars in 2002. The traditional Compaq brand subsequently disappeared in Germany. In some other countries such as England, France or Italy, the brand survived the takeover in the new group because it was strongly established in those markets.
According to the newspaper, HP manager Kinne intends to move closer to German market leader Fujitsu Siemens Computers with the two-brand strategy. According to figures from market researchers at IDC, the joint company currently has a market share of 16.5 percent in the German computer market. HP, the second-placed manufacturer, has a market share of 14.3 percent. «With Compaq, we want to achieve larger volumes than previously with only one brand,» Kinne told the newspaper. Worldwide, HP is the market leader ahead of Dell Computer from the USA and Lenovo from China.
