Grey market is our major challenge – Umo

Managing Director, Hewlett Packard (HP) West Africa, Mr. Ime Umo, has described the influx of grey market as the firm’s major challenge in the regional market and precisely Nigeria.

Umo made this disclosure at an interactive session with the media since assuming office few months back in Lagos.

“Grey market is really impacting on HP market share in the country,” he declared.
He also said that though HP is not afraid of competition among the local computer companies, but was emphatic that the major challenge facing his firm in the region is how to curtail the influx of the grey market.

Usually, grey market is known to be those who buy in good marketable quantity a certain brand of goods without requisite records and impact to the local market where it would finally be disposed off on out of the box prices, most at times without guarantee.

He cited an instance with the Otigba market in Ikeja-Lagos, saying that most of those trading at the market are just interested in low priced personal computers (PCs), most of which he alleged are counterfeits.

“Grey market is a major challenge for us and we’re not encouraging anybody to do grey and I am sorry for anybody who bought from grey market, because, HP cannot help you at our service centres, except if the person is ready to pay for such services,” he lamented.

He also advised Nigerians to always consider the total cost of ownership while making Information Technology (IT) purchases especially on computers.

He insisted that they cannot run away from competition but tends to leverage on the existence of its partners to ensure dominion of the market.

Umo further said that HP Nigeria is responsible for the West African market and evolves within some departments including the Financial Services Industry (FSI), Communications and Entertainment, Personal System Group (PSG), Image and Printing Group (IPG), and Technology Service Group (TSG).


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