Hewlett-Packard has become the No. 6 personal computer manufacturer in the world, spurred by 55 percent growth for its most recent quarter, compared with the same quarter last year. Now the company has launched a major push into consumer markets with the introduction of the new Pavilion line, which the company announced Aug. 14.

But not everyone thinks it's great news. Resellers that carry HP's laser printers and personal computers for sales to corporate, educational and government customers are concerned about HP's new focus on the consumer markets. They don't want HP to divert its focus from serving the higher-end corporate markets. Some value-added resellers are concerned about the introduction of the Pavilion line.

Steve Seashorltz, sales manager for AAA Networks, a HP-authorized reseller in Fall Church, Va., says his firm has no interest in the Pavilion line, and that it specializes in corporate and government customers. "There are too many people [serving the consumer market].... The margins are too thin to allow us to stay in business."

Arlington, Va.'s Advanced Computer Concepts, a $50 million value-added reseller, has served business customers in the Washington, D.C., area since its founding in 1982. The firm has been an HP authorized reseller for more than 10 years, according to President Sam Zarafshar. He said Pavilion has impressive features, such as Windows 95, multimedia capabilities and a one-year on-site service warranty. However, he cites complaints from business users about long waits on HP's (800) number for service, and those customers' difficulty in getting problems resolved.

"How will they handle the influx of calls [from Pavilion owners]?" he asks. "I hope they're not leaving behind the high-end business market and going into the consumer market" full force and neglecting to spend sufficient research and development money on the higher-end markets, Zarafshar said.

In particular, Zarafshar said HP has ceded market leadership in the color printer market to Tektronix. "Instead, they're coming up with a response to Packard Bell," the low-end consumer PC supplier that has become the No. 1 manufacturer in the U.S. "There's a lot of growth in the home market, but it doesn't require a lot of technical advancement.... [HP] is trying to compete with the low-end mass merchant products.... I want to see advancement in our industry, but I'm disappointed with this."

Zarafshar would prefer that HP spend more effort and money promoting and improving its OmniBook notebook, palm-top PCs, file servers and higher end desktop lines. He thinks HP risks overextending itself. When asked about Compaq Computer Corp. and its ability to become the No. 1 worldwide computer manufacturer due to strong sales in the consumer and corporate markets, Zarafshar pointed out that Compaq sold its printer business and concentrated on producing PCs, while HP has continued to manufacture office products and printers, in addition to PCs.