Microsoft’s Strikes a Deal with Hewlett-Packard
In order to increase the number of Windows Live Search users and possible advertising sales, Microsoft made a distribution deal with Hewlett-Packard (HP). Starting January, each personal computer distributed by HP in the US and Canada will contain an installation of Windows Live Search toolbar. The deal also includes installed copies of Internet Explorer with Live Search toolbars with links to HP services like its Snapfish digital-photo printing site. If this move proves to be successful, then international distribution may follow soon.
This isn’t a new strategy for Microsoft, as most PC distributions have Microsoft operating systems (e.g. XP, Vista) bundled with them. Windows Vista already has Windows Live Search as its default search engine. It’s a good move because placing default software definitely increases its amount of usage, especially with a giant distributor like HP. According to Sue Feldman, an analyst at the International Data Corporation (IDC), “very few people actually change their defaults.” A similar statement has been released by Angus Norton, a senior director in Microsoft’s Live Search group, saying that around 40 percent of Web surfers used whatever search engine was set as the default on their computer.
Though not the top PC distributor in the United States, Hewlett-Packard ranks no. 5 according to IDC, with almost 3.9 million distributed PCs in this year’s first quarter alone. Microsoft also has a similar deal with Lenovo, another leading distributor, and plans on making the same deals with other computer companies. But will this be enough to overthrow, albeit compare to massive competitors like Yahoo! and Google?
Resources:
International Herald Tribune
Information Week
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Tags: HP, Live Search, Microsoft Posted in
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