HP Debuts Spanish-language Training Series for U.S. Hispanic Small and Mid-size Businesses at Media Day Event

HOUSTON, March 7, 2005

At its inaugural U.S. Hispanic small and mid-size business media day today, HP premiered an industry-first Spanish-language online training series dedicated to enhancing the performance of Hispanic businesses through technology.

The event brings together leading U.S. Hispanic business and technology editors with HP executives and customers to address the growing opportunities for U.S. Hispanic small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Throughout the day, HP also highlighted the breadth and depth of its Smart Office solutions portfolio, which brings local and specialized expertise, reliable products and solutions, and services and support to SMBs.

The new training series, called Centro Empresarial Hispano de HP (HP Hispanic Business Center), further extends HP’s Smart Office solutions for Hispanic SMBs by providing the access to expertise these entrepreneurs need to accelerate their understanding of technology and networking, and grow their businesses - in the language that they prefer.

Building on the foundation of the HP SMB Spanish-language website (www.hp.com/go/hispanic) launched in October, Centro Empresarial Hispano de HP guides participants through a series of self-paced “how to” tutorials on the following topics:

Do-it-yourself marketing - Developing high-impact materials at low cost;


Building a website - Putting your best foot forward on the web;


Going paperless - Making the switch to handheld devices;


Becoming a Microsoft® PowerPoint professional - Bringing presentations to life;


Business networking - Capitalizing on networking opportunities; and


Boosting productivity with Microsoft Office - Templates for success.


According to HP market analysis, the U.S. Hispanic SMB market is set to skyrocket from 2 million businesses today to 10 million by 2010, with more than 50 percent of these businesses expecting to invest more in technology in 2005 than they did last year.

“At HP, we see the intersection of two important trends - the U.S. Hispanic population boom and the continued growth of the U.S. SMB market - forming a new mega-trend: the rise of the U.S. Hispanic SMB,” said Denise Marcilio, general manager, U.S. Hispanic and Women Owned SMB Customer Solutions, HP. “Serving the needs of U.S. Hispanic SMBs is core to HP’s vision. With hundreds of thousands of U.S. Hispanic SMB customers using HP Smart Office solutions today, HP’s depth of experience partnering with, supporting and providing solutions for this fast-growing, strategic business community is unmatched.”

During the media day, Hispanic entrepreneurs also provided insight into how they use technology to solve business problems and what they require from an information technology provider.

Carlos Posso, information systems manager at Intermex Wire Transfers, a Miami-based wire transfer business, believes that choosing the right IT partner for his fast-growing company is critical to his business’ success.

“Intermex’s biggest business challenge is keeping up with the technology required to provide more than 1,400 U.S. organizations access to our wire services daily. We use every technical tool at our disposal to level the playing field against competitors and needed a committed, supportive, IT partner to help us,” said Posso. “HP has reliable, proven solutions to help make a major impact on our business and is a great partner. The company’s new Spanish-language training tools underscore that HP clearly understands the makeup and requirements of small and mid-size businesses in the United States. It’s easy to see why Intermex is confident in our choice of HP Smart Office solutions.”

The new HP Hispanic Business Center, Centro Empresarial Hispano de HP, is available at no cost as part of HP’s Spanish-language website for small and mid-size businesses at http://www.hp.com/go/hispanic.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled $81.8 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com

Microsoft is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the development, performance and market acceptance of products and services and other risks that are described from time to time in HP’s Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2004. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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