A lot of major computer software and hardware companies are getting into the conferencing market. While consumers will have a number of choices to make before they pick a teleconference software provider, most will probably only be considering two things; price and features. Following on the heels of recent announcements from Google and Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard may be able to increase profits with their new video conferencing interface. The company is best known for producing affordable and long lasting personal computers, but stiff competition from competitors has caused their profit margins to fall sharply. It seems like this is HP’s latest attempt to take on technology giants like Apple, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve learned much since the iPaq was met with lukewarm enthusiasm. The iPaq 900 was supposed to be a smart-phone-meet-mini-computer, but the ridiculous sticker price and low sales forced HP try something decidedly different. Although the iPaq was supposed to put Apple on the ropes, cell phone’s only similarity to the iPhone is name alone.
HP plans to market their video conferencing devices and software towards environmentally minded business owners. The company claims that their products will help to reduce vehicle emissions by eliminating the need for business professionals to travel for face to face meetings. While it’s a nice nation, HP is still having a hard time justifying the $600 price tag when competitors such as Logitech are selling similar products for approximately 25% less.
Conference calls aren’t necessarily a thing of the past, but most businesses and analysts predict that video conferencing is the wave of the future. That said, the invention of web conferencing has made it harder for hardware companies to sell stand alone video conferencing products. Many of HP’s TouchSmart 600 Quad features are not available on standard computers, but a touch-screen monitor and a software upgrade could solve that. While Hewlett-Packard struggles to find their place in the current technology industry, companies such as Google and Microsoft have been able to produce superior products at much more affordable prices. Although video conferencing is becoming more of a viable tool, especially for businesses hit hard by the economic downturn, even industry leaders like Cisco are finding that new products aren’t flying off the shelves. There will always be companies that will immediately snap up ‘trendy’ products in an attempt to stay cutting edge, but if HP wants stay competitive they are going to have to start coming up with business solutions that the average company will want.