News release

PARIS, March 1, 2001

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) today announced that Vivendi Universal-Vivendi Environment will equip its employees with HP PCs and printers as part of an agreement with People PC.

Under the Vivendi program, called NetGener@tion, all 110,000 employees of Vivendi Universal-Vivendi Environment in France will be able to buy, for their personal use, an HP Pavilion computer with Internet connection and an HP color printer at an average monthly cost of three Euros (approx. U.S. $3) over three years.

The Vivendi NetGener@tion program is currently being deployed in France. Vivendi Universal -- headquartered in Paris, France -- is a leading global media and communications company, with five core communications units, including television and film, publishing, music, Internet and Telecoms. In addition, it has a world-class environmental unit that is a global leader in environmental services.

"We are delighted to become a partner of Vivendi-Universal through our relationship with People PC, for this important program. There is no doubt that employees of all levels benefit educationally, socially and economically from being connected from their home to the Internet," said Carly Fiorina, HP chairman, president and chief executive officer.

The agreement reinforces HP's position as one of the world's premier suppliers of consumer information technology. HP provides solutions for more than 150 million consumers around the world and has the ability and experience to understand and target both the professional and retail markets. At the same time, HP's industrial capacity allows it to respond to the most rigorous specifications and requirement of programs such as the Vivendi NetGener@tion.

HP has considerable experience working with PeoplePC in delivering employee purchase plan solutions to companies like Ford Motor and Delta Airlines.

Specific Support Structures

The Vivendi NetGener@tion program is accompanied by solid support and maintenance services, in collaboration with People PC, including the support of a dedicated HP team who will coordinate the program at an international level for a period of three years.

Users will benefit from full telephone support provided by People PC. PeoplePC will be responsible for employee subscriptions to the program and will take first-level calls in case of difficulties. HP will handle second and third-level calls, if necessary.

Customized Finance

The HP finance organization is currently implementing the financing arrangements of this program with the flexibility asked by Vivendi Universal. Under the coordination of People PC, HP is taking into account all the logistical and financial constraints linked to the deployment of such a project, as well as the fiscal policy required by each country.

Reducing the Digital Divide

Through this program, HP is actively taking part in helping achieve access to information technology for everyone in France. The Vivendi Universal Group's employees and their families will have the necessary means to access Internet resources and will receive quality support at a very low cost. The program is adapted even to those in the lowest income brackets.

A Comprehensive Multimedia PC and Color Inkjet Printer

HP's computer offerings to the Vivendi Universal Group are based on its highly successful HP Pavilion multimedia PC, which is the No. 1 selling home PC in the U.S. retail market segment. The HP Pavilion has a 633 MHz Intel® Celeron™ processor, a 10.2 GB hard disk drive, 64 MB of memory and a 15-inch screen. Its Internet keyboard has seven programmable buttons to provide direct access to the user's favorite Web sites or applications. Fully equipped for multimedia use, the computer comes with an integrated 56 Kbps modem/fax, a 48x CD-ROM drive and an Intel 810 AGP video card with 3D graphics.

The accompanying HP Deskjet 640C color printer can print correspondence, school assignments and creative projects on all types of paper, including photographic paper. It prints up to 6 pages per minute in black and white, and 3 pages per minute in color. HP is the No. 1 provider of printing solutions on a global level.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

HP had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

Intel and Pentium are U.S. registered trademarks of Intel Corp.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never 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. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenues, or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new products, services, or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; statements of belief and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions referred to above include the ability of HP to retain and motivate key employees; the timely development, production and acceptance of products and services and their feature sets; the challenge of managing asset levels, including inventory; the flow of products into third-party distribution channels; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31, 2000, and subsequently filed reports. HP does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.