The move follows HP's announcement in the US that it will mail its new catalogue direct to more than two million business customers. The catalogue, which HP intends to offer quarterly, includes notebook and desktop PCs, servers, handhelds, storage, software and services.
"The 64-dollar question is where does this leave the reseller?" said Glen Miller of Janteknology, an Australian HP distributor when ZDNet Australia informed him of the investigation. "Is it a lead generating program or are they going direct? If it's a direct program I would have a problem with that. If it's a lead generating program or feeds back into the channel that would be OK."
HP Australia has not released details of its direct sales plans for this country, but an American HP representative said that those who receive the catalogue will have the option of ordering through HP or a reseller.
Miller warned HP risked alienating resellers if they began selling direct to the customer. "If it left the channel out in the cold that would be a bad thing for the channel and HP," he said. Miller said the harsh economic climate meant a lot of companies are scratching for whatever revenue they can get their hands on, but short term growth came at the expense of the long term prospects of the channel.
It is important to vendors to communicate their intentions to the channel to avoid misunderstanding, according to Miller.
Martin Aungle, the online marketing manager for reseller Dimension Data, said it isn't worried about any plans to sell direct to the SME market because it isn't its target market.
"There's been some publicity from HP about its position in the marketplace, how they want resellers to add value to the end user," he said. "We do that."
News.com's Ian Fried contributed to this article.
