Partners: HP Inc. Has A Hit Product With Elite x2 -- A 2-In-1 Built For Business

Solution providers say HP Inc. has a bona fide hit product with its new 2-in-1, the Elite x2, HP Inc.'s first mobile product since it broke out on its own as an independent company.

The Elite x2, priced at $899, was designed as a breakthrough product appealing to both tech-savvy consumers and businesses. The product has a sleek, European-like design, but at the same time is packed with enterprise security, manageability and serviceability features for business users.

HP Inc. is touting the Elite x2, based on the sixth-generation Intel Core M processor with vPro security and manageability technology, as the first tablet "truly built for business." The product, which will begin shipping in January, comes with an HP Travel Keyboard and HP Active Pen.

[Related: HP Exec Gives 15 Reasons Why HP Inc.'s Elite X2 Tops Microsoft's Surface Pro 4]

"I see this product taking at least 15 percent market share from the other competitors in our market," said Joe Hemani, owner of $3 billion Theal, England-based distributor Westcoast. "I have never seen anything like this from HP. It is a resilient product with all the functionality anyone could ever want. It has the attributes for all three markets: consumer, SMB and enterprise."

Hemani said he expects his business with HP Inc. -- which officially launched as a new Fortune 50 company Nov. 1 -- to grow at "minimum" 35 percent, thanks to HP Inc.’s newfound agility as an independent company. "The Elite x2 shows off that agility," he said.

The Elite x2 is the first product designed from the ground up by the HP Inc. mobility division. The mobility team, in fact, canned the old design process in favor of a new model with extensive human-factor analysis focused on the market for executives and productivity workers.

Hemani credited HP Inc. mobility Vice President and General Manager Michael Park with bringing "new thinking" and breakthrough innovation to the 2-in-1 market. "HP has given Michael the freedom and ability to express himself with this product," said Hemani. "It's a huge win for HP. You can see the energy and desire in Michael's eyes to go win. He is relentless. It is not just about money and market share. It is about producing the very best product that makes this generation of businesspeople more economically viable and efficient."

Adam Shaffer, president of North American Technology B2B Product Group for Systemax, No. 17 on the 2015 CRN Solution Provider 500, called the Elite x2 a "sexy and incredibly powerful" product for the executive on the go.

"This product is going to be a major player in the 2-in-1 market," predicted Shaffer. "I can't wait to start selling it. I fell in the love with the keyboard and the design of the product. The keyboard is awesome and the kickstand makes it much more sturdy than other 2-in-1s. The product has all the functionality business people need. "

One of the big pluses for businesses adopting the Elite x2, said Shaffer, is the robust security features built into the product, including vPro technology, biometric technology and HP's proprietary SureStart technology that protects the HP Inc. proprietary BIOS from malicious software attacks -- often the first point of attack by hackers.

The HP Inc. team looked specifically at end-user scenarios and pain points to ensure executives and productivity workers are more effective in their jobs before designing the Elite x2, said Park. "With the Elite x2, we think we have a product designed especially for the kind of customers that our partners call on," he said.

The speed and agility of the new HP Inc. mobility division mirrors the competitive advantages HP Inc. now has as a separate company, said Park. "We are smaller, so we can operate end to end in a better way with more focus," he said. "The separation of the company is just a bigger picture of that. The entire company is now completely focused on print and PC, and the growth aspects of 3-D printing and mobility. And we have a very healthy and large core PC and printing business. We are more focused than we have ever been."

PUBLISHED NOV. 19, 2015