HP, in selecting Riyadh for its production unit, did not lose sight of the fact that it was the capital of the Gulf’s largest market. HP’s entry will raise the profile of Riyadh’s manufacturing sector

Hewlett Packard (HP) has signed an agreement with Saudi firm Snas Trading & Contracting to build and manage a plant for the assembly of PCs in the kingdom. Work has begun in Riyadh on the construction of the plant and the first PCs from the facility should begin appearing in the local market in the fall.

Two existing HP partners - Nahil Distribution and Jeraisy Computer Communications Services (JCCS) - have initially been identified to distribute PCs from the plant within the kingdom, while Aptec will distribute them around the Middle East. HP plans to consider engaging with more partners depending on the scope of individual projects and opportunities developing in the Middle East.

Christoph Schell, general manager, HP Personal Systems Group in the Middle East, described the assembly plant as a highly significant venture in the Middle East.
Schell said HP was well positioned to grow the PC market in Saudi Arabia.  “Snas has an excellent track record working with international companies in the kingdom. We believe that this experience, together with their excellent logistics facilities and their financial strength, makes them an ideal fit for HP on this particular venture,” the official said.
The plant is expected to produce around 80,000 PCs per annum. These will be sold in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East region. HP believes that the new plant, in addition to supporting the local Saudi economy, will result in product coming to market more quickly - turnaround time is expected to be halved from its existing time of 30 days from order to delivery. The plant is also expected to provide improved response on support and offer customers a wide portfolio of HP products.

“Since the majority of the employees within the plant will be Saudi nationals, we see this as a significant move by both HP and Snas in driving Saudisation,” said Bassam Mahmoud Jabr, general manager of Snas.

“We are looking to put in place a strong core team at the plant whose skills we will develop together with HP on an ongoing basis. Given the enormous opportunities that we believe are available throughout the region for this plant, we will seek to grow this team significantly.”

HP will be responsible for providing components, system integration and knowledge transfer as well as all arrangements surrounding HP branding. Snas will be responsible for the manufacturing process, for quality certification and for the establishment and maintenance of the legal entity under Saudi regulations.

“We see the establishment of this plant as crucial in helping us to address the particular needs of small-to-medium businesses in the kingdom and around the region,” said Schell. “The new facility is designed to complement our existing, extensive portfolio of products and to help us grow the PC market in the region.”

HP’s solutions span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing for consumers, enterprises and small and medium businesses.
HP’s $4 billion annual R&D investment fuels the invention of products, solutions and new technologies so it can better serve customers and enter new markets.
The company has said its mission is to invent technologies and services that drive business value, create social benefit and improve the lives of customers-with a focus on affecting the greatest number of people possible.

The May 2002 merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer Corporation forged a dynamic, powerful team of 140,000 employees with capabilities in 160 countries and doing business in 43 currencies and 15 languages. HP’s 2003 Fortune 500 ranking was No. 14

HP is the largest IT company in the Middle East, employing about 500 people in the region. Present there since 1968, it opened its first regional office in 1994 and has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Riyadh, Jeddah and Khobar servicing the GCC, the Levant and Egypt.

Snas Trading & Contracting was constructed in 1977 on behalf of its sole owner, Prince Saud bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
It is conceived as a holding company enabling major multinational companies to bid for significant contracts in conjunction with an effective Saudi Arabian joint venture partner.
During the past 26 years, Snas has established successful long-term partnerships with a number of blue chip companies in America, Germany, Britain, France, Korea and Japan and developed an enviable track record in gaining and completing some of the most prized projects on offer in Saudi Arabia.

The Snas joint ventures are in widely diversified fields of activity including electronics, communications, defence, construction, insurance, courier services, security and maritime and general trading.

In less than two decades, Jeraisy Computer and Communication Services has become the single largest provider of IT solutions within Saudi Arabia.
Under the close scrutiny of its founder, Abdul Rahman Al Jeraisy, Riyadh House was established to provide the first total office solution for the Saudi market. This in itself was considered an innovative move considering the minimal opportunities for expansion in such a limited market. The move culminated in JCCS becoming the first and largest Saudi company to provide comprehensive computer and communications hardware, software, maintenance and other related services. JCCS has since achieved phenomenal growth and worldwide recognition.

Aptec is the leading distributor of IT and telecommunications products covering the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Africa and some parts of Europe. The company has 68 subsidiaries with offices in the UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Kuwait and Africa. Aptec is focused on the distribution of the top industry brands including networking products from 3Com, Cisco, D-3Com, D- D-Link & U.S. Robotics; software products from Computer Associates, Corel, Lotus, Microsoft, Network Associates, Novell, Oracle, Onset Technologies & Symantec; hardware products from APC, ATI, Epson, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, IBM, Infosec UPS system and Intel, among others, and mobile phone products from Ericsson, MobiNiL & Nokia.3M, Acer, BenQ, Cyber Drive, Nokia. Epox, MSI, Nokia.Sapphire & Via.

Nahil Distribution is a leading distributor for Saudi Arabia of world-class quality products from HP that include PCs, servers, storage, notebooks and peripherals The company has been serving the market for two decades.