H-P Rushes to Be First With Fast New Chip : Computer Maker Facing Stiff Competition

Jumping the gun on its major competitors, computer giant Hewlett Packard of Palo Alto introduced a personal computer Monday that uses the latest, fastest and most powerful microprocessor from Intel Corp.

However, the machine, which runs on Intel’s new 486 chip, will not be available until early next year. By that time, analysts said, several other PC makers will have competitive products on the market. And analysts doubted whether the Hewlett Packard machine, which will be priced between $14,000 and $20,000, could be an important force in the market once Compaq, IBM and others introduce competing products.

“Hewlett Packard is certainly among the first to announce a machine using a chip that is fast and gives a high level of service,” said Robert Charlton, an analyst with Dataquest, a San Jose market research firm. “But I see nothing on the machine that distinguishes it from other fast, high-performance models.”

Announcement Moved Up

Hewlett Packard officials said their announcement was important for another reason: the demonstration that the company could beat its competition to the market with the latest top-of-the-line product.

“It’s a big deal for us,” said Michael Naggiar, general manager of marketing for HP’s personal computer operation. “It’s the first time in a long while that we’ve been first. Historically, we’ve always been late into the market. We want to get people to take notice of this.”

In fact, HP moved up its announcement, originally scheduled for today, to take advantage of the low volume of competing business news generated on Monday’s double holiday--Columbus Day and Yom Kippur.