In its annual Smart Office event held in New Delhi, HP launched two desktop PCs meant for SMBs -- the HP dx7300 and the HP dx2700 -- priced below US$400. Also launched were new workstation models, two new iPAQ handhelds, a thin-client PC and at least four new HP LaserJet printers (including a multifunction printer priced at below $599).

Some of these new products are developed in HP's design centers located in India, China and Taiwan.

Analyst IDC forecasts the Asia Pacific SMB market to spend approximately $66 billion in IT by 2010, growing annually by 10 percent over a five-year period. SMBs account for almost half of the HP's total commercial business.

In his keynote speech, Adrian Koch, Asia Pacific senior vice president for HP's Personal Systems Group mentioned four key trends in the SMB market: higher IT 'IQ' among users, increased digitization of content, adoption of software as a service and increased requirements demanded of SMBs by suppliers and regulatory environments.

By higher IT IQ, Koch says SMBs are paying more attention to IT and expect vendors to be more than just box-pushers and provide solutions specific to a users' line of business.