Hewlett-Packard announces 50+ new products, aims to keep market share

In a sign that computer maker Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) isn't sitting on its laurels as the world's largest PC manufacturer, the company announced over 50 new products yesterday. This was HP's largest announcement from its Personal Storage Group (PSG) division ever in terms of quantity of products introduced.

HP also introduced the world's thinnest laptop computer, in a swipe at Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacBook Air. Probably the most important announcement was that HP's professional and consumer-level laptop PCs were all going to be refreshed. A similar move about 18 months ago in its consumer laptop designs and retail partnerships helped push HP past competitor Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) as the largest PC manufacturer in the world, and now it's upping the game again by getting all-new designs to market at all the relevant screen sizes (14", 15" and 17").

With Taiwanese competitor Acer selling a ton of laptop PCs recently and Dell resurgent on the consumer side of its business (including retail availability), HP definitely does not want to cede any of the market share it has that has helped it become the largest overall global PC maker. The company currently has 35%+ of the consumer laptop PC market, and with all-news designs coming soon, it may be able to keep hold of that number. But Acer and Dell, the second and third-largest makers of laptop PCs, sure won't make it easy.