IN THE CORPORATE world, the trend increasingly seems to be for portable computers or laptops to gain popularity over desktop PCs as the business tool of choice. The considerable disparity in price, however, is still the major obstacle preventing portable sales from outstripping those of desktop PCs.

"For business people, yes, I think that the market trend is for portables to be the first choice. Now, there's a wider question if information appliances will eventually replace PCs and portables, but that's for my future talk," said Michael Padovano, Compaq Customer Services' director of marketing and sales for the Asia Pacific.

Drawing from his own experience, Padovano related that when his daughter entered the university, the school asked her to bring along a portable computer. He said that many schools in the United States require the use of laptops, even providing students with units if they cannot afford to buy their own.

"The market dynamics for portables is that sales are increasing, but the demand for ruggedness and reliability is also high," he said.

Though acknowledging that the high cost is still a barrier to local sales, Compaq Computer Philippines Inc. launched last week a new free service bundle aimed at making its Armada portables more attractive to business customers. This Armada Express service package is also available in the region in Thailand and Malaysia.

At the launch, Padovano cited an industry survey showing that 47 percent of Philippine customers cited after-sales support as the main reason for satisfaction with their relationship with a company.

"This is good because it shows that the Philippines is a market with high expectations," he said.

Under the service program, Armada users can call local hotlines for technical support, with Padovano claiming that 70 percent of problems involving portables can be solved over the telephone. If the problem still cannot be resolved, Compaq's local representative would dispatch someone to pick up the Armada within four hours, returning the repaired unit by the next business day.

More important, Compaq would provide a free replacement unit to ensure that the customer would not suffer any downtime while the Armada is being repaired. The Philippine version of the service, however, is limited to the Metro Manila area.

In launching the service, Compaq claimed that it recognized that portables are becoming indispensable business tools. Padovano said that this means not only making Compaq's portables reliable, but also ensuring that hardware problems are immediately fixed in case they do arise.

Asked why Compaq does not focus instead on lowering the prices for its portables, Padovano replied: "I agree that if the choice is between saving $100 and getting a free 12-month service, the customer would rather get the $100 because this is an immediate benefit. But we don't think short-term."

Padovano added that Compaq is only addressing market needs, again citing the high premium that Filipino buyers seem to place on customer service.

"I think we could compare this to life insurance. Sure, you could save the money that you pay for your monthly premiums, but that wouldn't benefit you in the long term. I think that from a product strategy standpoint, we should make the best products and back them up with excellent service," said Ng Chee Soon, president of Compaq Philippines.

With the current emphasis on customer service, is it safe to say that this is now what differentiates portables from different manufacturers, rather than product technology and reliability?

Padovano disagreed that portables are now basically the same whether they come from Compaq, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, or another company. He admitted, however, that while the portable market of 10 years ago saw a wide disparity in technology features and little differentiation in terms of customer service, the situation has now been reversed.