Gen Z using PCs more than millennials: Top HP executive

With an eye on pushing work and life boundaries for mobile business professionals, HP recently introduced the "HP Elite Dragonfly" notebook which is an ultra-light premium convertible notebook, weighing under one-kilogram.

In an interview with IANS, Alex Cho who is President, Personal Systems, HP Inc, said that as per the latest trends, Gen Z is actually using PCs more than millennials.

"We are seeing a big shift. We have been measuring people using PCs, smartphones and also tablets. The data that we have show that Gen Z is actually using PCs more than millennials. The time they spend on PCs is increasing while on tablets, it is going down. People are doing a lot of interesting creations -- digital creations -- on their PCs," he said.

Elaborating the different usages of PCs, Cho said that PC-based gaming is growing tremendously while video conferencing and chatting on PCs are increasing too.

"What people started on their phones, they are doing those on their PCs now. This category is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly among the younger generation, which we are excited about, as that means we have a lot of room to innovate.

"If we can help innovate for what people are doing more, make sure things are more secure, make sure we are providing more privacy, then we think we can make a very positive impact on the ecosystem and our customers in particular," he noted.

Cho was excited about the market in India where PC is an integral part for various citizen services being offered by the government.

"I was in India three weeks ago. The requirements around computing are changing in India -- there are specific needs now. People are increasingly getting connected.

"One of the key areas that we want to focus on is some of the households in India that have more income and capabilities. We also want to help in the education space and the public sector. We want to innovate for digitisation which is big now. We see a lot of possibilities in the trends and computing as a part of them."

Cho also talked about PC gaming that has come of age and is getting popular in India.

"Gaming is big. It's incredible. If you look at the numbers, there are more people gaming and watching gaming than traditional sports. It's growing. We are continuing to innovate on great devices, notebooks and desktops.

"We have introduced the world's first dual-screen notebook. We are also innovating around the accessories and displays and recently introduced the Omen X display… We are working on faster frames per second and bigger and better designs. We also introduced the first wireless mouse with zero latency for gaming," Cho told IANS.

Talking about the new HP Elite Dragonfly, the senior HP executive said it can be used as a tablet, as well as for taking notes, or watching movies.

"People like watching Netflix and Amazon Prime on these devices. We have found that the convertible is very attractive for Gen Z and millennials. The Dragonfly is a fully business device with all the robustness of a commercial equipment. People who work want the flexibility of a 360 degree device, and that's what we are offering. This is for Gen Z as well as the working people," Cho added.

Equipped with up to 16GB RAM and solid-state storage (SSD) of up to 2TB storage, the 13-inch Elite Dragonfly notebook is expected to be available from October 25 at $1,549 globally.

It is likely to hit the Indian market sometime in November and the local price is yet to be announced.