Even if, as some suspect, Hewlett-Packard Co is losing money on personal computers as it goes all out for market share, rivals will get no relief – it is doing so well in the rest of its businesses that it can afford to go right on losing money on personal computers. Not that significant losses are likely, since the company is applying the model it perfected with its inkjet and laser printers to make good money on even the most low-margin products, while keeping the customer satisfied. Reporting on its fiscal first quarter, when profits rose 31% on sales up 27% – see Company Results – the company says orders totalling $10,100m were received in the first quarter, up from $7,800m this time last year. US orders were up 24% at $3,900m and foreign orders rose 32% to $6,200m, 61% of the total. Sales in the US rose 20% to $3,800m and sales elsewhere rose 33% to $5,500m. Margins were crimped a little because cost of goods sold for the quarter was 64.5% of net revenue, compared with 62.3% a year earlier but down from 65.3% in the prior quarter. Operating expenses rose 15% over the year-ago quarter and were 22.6% of net revenue, compared with 24.9% a year ago and 24.3% in the fiscal fourt quarter. Even those remarkable figures did not satisfy the company, which pointed out that inventory was 20.3% of net revenue, up from 16.5% in the same quarter last year, and we didn’t do as well at managing inventory as we need to, Hewlett-Packard said, complaining that growth was greater than expected, outpacing revenue growth.It conceded that the figures were a terrific start to the year but there are many challenges in the markets we serve. Competition remains intense, pricing pressures are presistent and customer expectations continue to rise. In addition, there are signs of slowing in some major economies, including the United States and Western Europe. The market was not listening and the shared jumped $6.375, or over 7% to $92.625 in Friday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where it topped the most active list on volume of over 3m.