Long-time CE industry veteran Jim Sanduski, who many will remember from his extended tenure at Samsung where he directed TV marketing and product planning, sent greetings from his new home in beautiful Grenoble, France, where he has been named European director for HP’s diverse IT product portfolio. Sanduski left Samsung in 2006 to run HP’s TV product procurement, before chronic margin pressure forced the company to drop out of the category this year.
Below is an open letter to industry friends and a few photos of his new home:
Dear friends and colleagues,
Bonjour (Hello).
I’m writing to share news of an exhilarating new role at Hewlett-Packard that I’ve been transitioning to these past
several months and one that will be official as of Nov. 1st, coinciding with the start of HP’s new fiscal year. I’ve been appointed to head up the product marketing team for HP’s consumer computer products (notebooks, desktops, monitors and accessories) in Western and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia.
As European Director, I will lead a team of 25 people in determining the product strategy, roadmap, positioning and pricing for HP’s multi-billion dollar consumer PC business across some 35 countries and 20 different languages.
Icing on the cake for my family and me is that the position is based in Grenoble, France—perhaps best known as the host city for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Located in Southeastern France, Grenoble has a city population of
about 150,000 people (550,000 metropolitan) and is a two hour drive from Geneva, four hours from Milan, six hours from Barcelona and a three hour train ride from Paris. Geographically, the city is located in a valley at the base of the French Alps so there are many hiking trails and ski slopes nearby that we’re looking forward to enjoying.
The move from Cupertino, Calif., where I had been based since joining HP in December 2006 from Samsung Electronics, is not only a long distance move but hopefully a long-term one as well.
I have permanent status with my French working papers so I can remain in France as long as I desire.
English is the spoken language inside the office but for outside I’m about to embark on a ‘survival’ course in
French, which I don’t speak at all; though I have found the French to be very friendly and forgiving if I at least try to say simple greetings in French. Fortunately, my wife speaks near fluent French from her three years of working in Paris back in the mid-to-late 1980’s.
I’m also in process of finding a place to live, having our household goods shipped over and having my family join me in January once finishing the current school semester back home. Fortunately, Grenoble is one of three cities in France to have an International School that my kids will attend.
I feel very fortunate and blessed to be appointed to this position and want to thank the many people who have had a positive influence and impact on my career. Merci beaucoup (Thank you). Although I’m now on a different continent, I hope our paths will cross again.
With sincere best regards,
Jim Sanduski,
PSG Consumer Product Marketing – Notebooks, Desktops, Monitors, Accessories
Europe, Middle East, Africa [EMEA]
