Just because CEO Meg Whitman has a strong history in consumer marketplaces doesn't mean that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is ready to be a retail store darling.
DigiTimes is reporting that HP is establishing a full-service center in Taipei. The PC and printing giant supposedly already has a few of these full-service centers throughout Asia where it combines product maintenance with sales under a branded store format.
I don't know if this will fly or not in Asia, but HP obviously has another thing coming if it decides to try this closer to home.
Every company has seen Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) excel with its branded stores, and apparently there's a fine line between envy and naivete.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) gave it a go three years ago. It seemed laughable at the time, but at least Mr. Softy has the Xbox 360 wooing consumers as the console of choice. The result is that there are now 14 Microsoft Store locations throughout the country, with at least another four on the way.
There are reports of Amazon.com (Nasdsaq: AMZN) opening a physical store near its home turf of Seattle, but -- again -- this will be emphasizing the company's unique Kindle products and books from its Amazon Publishing line.
HP makes decent computers and great printers, but where's the hook? Where's the iPad, Xbox 360, or Kindle?
It's just hard to justify a box maker giving branded retail a go. Strip mall landlords are still fresh with Gateway and Dell store closures from less than a decade ago.
DigiTimes reports that this will be HP's eighth service center in Asia, so perhaps it's working at some level overseas. Laptop specialist Lenovo already has a handful of stores open, and it's targeting 1,000 stores throughout Asia.
Hopefully HP recognizes that it has more to lose -- through brand-defacing embarrassment and alienating existing HP distributors -- than gain if its "I want to be like Apple" dream ever finds it turning to stateside mall landlords for available retail space.
The HP weigh
An HP store may not send shivers down Microsoft's spine, but do you know the two words that Bill Gates doesn't want to hear? Stumped? A timely report has the answer. It's free, but only for a limited time, so check it out now.
