August 3, 2004 - Hewlett-Packard, the world’s number two computer maker, has announced that it will stop selling digital cameras in Asia, instead focusing on the home printing market.
HP, which only entered the Chinese digital camera market in July 2004, said in a statement that they are leaving the Asian camera business "to focus its investment around home photo printing, which is a high-growth area in the region. HP has said that they will continue to sell existing stocks of cameras in Asia but will not be introducing any new models.
The announcement in Asia is the most recent restructuring measure implemented by HP CEO Mark Herd. On Monday, HP announced that it would stops selling Apple’s iPod and last month the company said it would cut 10 percent of its workforce.
The move in Asia, together with HP’s other restructuring measures, is expected to save the company $1.9 billion, according to HP’s restructuring plan that was released last month. In a separate announcement, HP said that it plans to expand digital camera operations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
