main causes for Kittyhawk's failure

The company had failed to recognize the new product as a

disruptive innovation that was not ready to compete in the existing market

The DMD picked the wrong target customers and built the wrong product because
corporate expectations left no other choice

The product could not storm any other emerging market in as short a period of time
as was expected
Positioning on the market was done not based on realistic market opportunities but
by the company's
aggressive revenue expectations

Existing computing market trends were driven by capacity and cost per megabyte,
not by size.
Kittyhawk didn't offer any value for the established markets

Even having a substantial opportunity in emerging markets, DMD attempted to

please customers in
emerging markets, where performance expectations were high.
It included features that made Kittyhawk too expensive to satisfy customers in
emerging markets.

The company could be more flexible by initially focusing on a low-cost drive whose
requirements would satisfy the lowest common denominator.

breakthroughs in manufacturing and design could still be leveraged in the event

that the product architecture needed to be redesigned for higher-margin products.

What could HP have done differently

Attract and retain resources experienced in developing new architectures or
cultivating emerging markets
Not try to analyze markets for this product. Markets did not exist yet
Use in-house manufacturing to provide flexibility while market demand is formed
and until the right product is developed.

Based on the analysis of these alternatives and in light of the stated issues, I
recommend that Seymour pursue the second option and create a superior 2.5-inch
drive for notebook computers specializing on speed and space dimensions instead
of durability. With a proven market to sell the product, I believe that it would be
easier for HP to make the transition into developing this drive since it would need
minimal investments in R&D, on account of existing competitor alternatives.

Plan of Action
1. Clear off inventory for the existing drive and manufacture until demand
sustains.
2. Shut down the production of this drive once the demand fizzles out and
simultaneously focus on developing the superior 2.5 inch drive for notebook
computers, focused on superior speed & space.
3. Invest in R&D to design a new and improved 1.8 inch drive for modern computing
applications.
4. Use in-house manufacturing for flexibility as demand grows and until the right
product is developed.