Hewlett-Packard (HP) will unveil two smartphones today, marking its entry into the consumer mobile market, as the computer giant takes on the BlackBerry and the iPhone in the increasingly crowded sector.

The technology group has signed a deal with Vodafone to sell the email-enabled phones across Europe.

The move follows the trend set by computer and internet groups, such as Apple and Google, who have shaken up traditional competition by entering the mobile scene. Dell and Acer are also rumoured to be working on smartphones, hoping to tap the growing consumer sphere as more people demand to be connected to their email when out of the office.

HP’s iPaq Voice Messenger, aimed squarely at the BlackBerry’s slimline Pearl device, and the iPaq Data Messenger, will be available in the UK on Vodafone next month.

Today’s announcement marks a change of strategy for HP, which until now has focused on big businesses.

David Wright, vice president and general manager of HP’s personal systems group, said the new smartphones were designed to bridge the gap between work and play, targeting what the company calls “prosumers”, or professional consumers, and small and medium businesses.

However, the smartphone market has become increasingly crowded.

In the last couple of months alone, Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry, has launched two new devices - the clamshell Pearl Flip followed by the touch-screen Storm - in a determined bid to move from briefcase to jean pocket.

RIM almost doubled its market share in the second quarter this year, rising from 8.9 per cent to 17.4 per cent, although Nokia still dominates with 47.5 per cent of global smartphone sales, according to Gartner, the IT research group. Taiwan’s HTC, and Japan’s Sharp, are the next biggest players, with 4.1 per cent each. HP has less than 3.3 per cent of global market share.

Susan Macke, vice president marketing of HP’s handheld global business unit, said: “We had been focused on enterprise but now we’re opening up to work with small and medium businesses (SMB) and prosumers. Before we sold through retail and direct to enterprise but had not partnered with an operator.”

HP brought in an in-house design team to create the new smartphones, which both run Windows Mobile 6.1.

Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, the technology research group, said: “These devices are a signal of HP’s future aspirations. They have taken the bull by the horns and brought a design team in-house. This could be its salvo to make a break into the smartphone market."

However, Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner analyst, warned: “This is a very hard time to come to market as competition is plentiful and the economic environment is tough.”

Ms Macke is unfazed by the current consumer downturn. She said: “It is hard to tell exactly what will happen in the current climate but enterprises are looking to bring down costs and making employees more mobile increases productivity. There is huge scale of growth in this kind of device.”

HP acquired the original iPaq range of PDAs, or hand-held computers, when it bought Compaq, the computer maker, in 2001. It launched its first two smartphones connected to mobile networks earlier this year.

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