News release

HP Comments on Recent PC Market Share Data

The following is a statement from HP (NYSE:HPQ) regarding worldwide PC market share numbers for the second quarter of calendar year 2003.⁽¹⁾

According to IDC figures, industry unit sales grew by 7.6 percent year over year worldwide - ahead of the projected 4.1 percent.

"The PC growth is good news for the industry. Once again this quarter, the race continues to be a two-horse competition between HP and Dell - and, notably, the gap between the rest of the pack and industry leaders HP and Dell continues to grow," said Jim McDonnell, vice president of marketing, HP Personal Systems Group.

"The two companies are virtually neck and neck again, separated by just over 500,000 of the industry's more than 33 million units shipped worldwide during the quarter. That's less than two days' worth of shipments over a 90-day period -- in a real horse race, you would need a photo finish to judge the outcome.

"HP continues to grow in key areas, such as the notebook, small- and medium-sized business (SMB) and retail markets.⁽²⁾ In fact, in notebooks - the fastest-growing piece of the PC business -- HP was the worldwide market leader with a 15.9 percent market share in Q1. And in the critical SMB space, HP was the market share leader by more than two points in Q1.

"As we keep saying, this is a tight race. We're in the battle for the long term, we're providing great products at aggressive prices to our customers, and we look forward to continuing to build on our momentum in the second half of the year."

Fast Facts

• Measured by analysts as a merged company for the first time -- and coming shortly after the one-year anniversary of its merger with Compaq - HP grew market share year over year.
• HP grew faster than the market in the second quarter -- despite the period's traditional seasonality issues.
• HP has grown faster than the market in three of the last four quarters and expects to continue the positive trend going forward.
• Year over year -- and in the first year measured by analysts as a merged company - HP's growth rate was nearly double the market's overall growth rate.
• HP retained its No. 1 position in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and maintained a strong No. 2 position in the United States.

About HP

HP delivers vital technology for business and life. The company's solutions span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing for consumers, enterprises and small and medium business. For the last four quarters, HP revenue totaled $70.4 billion. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

⁽¹⁾ The market share information is based on IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, published July 16, 2003.

⁽²⁾ Based on IDC Q1 2003 figures (Q2 figures are not yet published).

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development and performance of these products and services may not proceed as planned; 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 quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2003, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.