Hewlett-Packard and Dell Avoid Big PC Party

Hewlett-Packard and Dell keep missing the introduction of computing revolutions.

Two years ago, Asustek unveiled the first netbook here at the Computex computer industry tradeshow in Taipei. The little, cheap laptops have proved the PC industry’s savior during the recession, keeping shipments going while interest in bigger laptops and PCs wanes.

Both H.P. and Dell were late to the netbook party, and, as a result, they’ve watched as Taiwanese rivals Acer and Asustek have grabbed the majority of the market.

This year, companies like Lenovo, Acer and Asustek have hit Computex with their guns blazing, dishing out thin and light laptops that will sell for well under $600. The major PC contract manufacturers like Foxconn, Compal and Winstron have shown off even more radical machines with ARM chips that boast 18 hour battery life and weigh next to nothing. Then, there’s all the touch-screen devices, smart photo frames and video conferencing systems.

As it turns out, neither H.P. nor Dell has a formal presence at Computex. They’re watching the show from afar, while even their close partners like Intel and Microsoft reveal new products and buddy up with the Taiwanese powers.

It’s an odd approach for the two biggest players in the United States, especially when you consider their interest in making more headway in the Chinese market. Chinese suppliers and customers have flocked to Computex, and they’re forming tighter relationships with companies like Acer and Asustek.

On the product side, H.P and Dell can perhaps afford to play catch-up.

Michael Rayfield, the general manager of Nvidia’s mobile business unit, points out that the large PC makers let the likes of Foxconn and Winstron create a variety of new devices first to discover what works in the market.

In that sense, the Taiwanese manufactures serve as market makers, and companies like H.P and Dell swoop in with their prominent brands when the time is right.

So, missing out on the Computex glitz has had a minimal cost in the big scheme of things.

On the relationship side, it’s less clear how H.P. and Dell’s absence from the show will play out.

CeBit’s attendance hit the lowest level in a decade when it was held this March with the number of exhibitors declining by 26 percent. Meanwhile, at Computex, the number of exhibitors held steady despite the recession.

In addition, Intel executives told me that Computex tended to attract more Asian reporters than any other show, leading to packed press conferences with hundreds of reporters. The scribes, of course, fill the Asian publications with word of the latest PCs, and H.P. and Dell fail to capture much of that buzz.

There are some booths here with software makers using H.P and Dell computers to show off their latest products. I imagine, however, that both companies will end up buying into Computex in the near future, as the event morphs from a component smorgasbord to the real showcase for the next waves of computing.