Hitachi to Market HP PCs in Japan

Hitachi has announced a plan to market Hitachi-branded computers made by Hewlett-Packard to businesses in Japan.

Electronics giant Hitachi has announced plans to market Hitachi-branded personal computers in Japan (Japanese). The catch: these computers will be made by Hewlett-Packard.

The HP-made desktop and portable computers will be aimed at Hitachi’s business customers, and will replace Hitachi’s own “Flora” line of PCs. Hitachi plans to continute development and manufacture of its consumer-oriented Prius line of computers. The bulk of Hitachi’s computer sales in Japan are to businesses: a Hitachi spokesperson says the company sells about 140,000 consumer-oriented machines a year, but moved about 350,000 machines into businesses.

The deal marks an expansion of business ties between the two companies: HP currently supplies Hitachi with server products.