14 DAY TRIAL // HP is trying to do what it set out to do back in 2011, only without the marketing faux pas generated by the blunt statement that they were trying to leave the PC industry. Not that the latest move is that much less jarring.
For those of you who don't know, HP said, back in late 2011, that it was going to leave the PC market altogether. And it did it quite suddenly.
Due to how unexpected the announcement was, and the fact that HP was basically the top PC maker at the time, the revelation did not go over well. At all.
In fact, it got so bad that the company’s share value dropped significantly, and eventually, the CEO at the time, Leo Apotheker, had to take the fall and get fired.
Of course, the debacle had to do with a really bad acquisition of the firm Autonomy, which still hasn't managed to get the fraud charges dismissed, but that's neither here nor there.
HP is splitting in half
According to the Wall Street Journal, the company is going to divide into a consumer business and a company dedicated solely to business customers.
This move is basically what would have happened back in 2011, but because of a really bad miscommunication and other issues happening at the time, and their rather poor handling and exposure, new CEO Meg Whitman had to spend a few years calming waters instead of doing something so drastic.
Now, though, with the impact faded from immediate memory, the company can go ahead and do what it originally wanted.
It's pretty ironic if you think about it. It makes it seem like Apotheker's forced departure was more of a scapegoat tactic than anything. But it's not like there weren't people who saw that at the time. Of course, if the Autonomy acquisition hadn't happened, he might not have been forced out at all.
Anyway, HP apparently wanted to sell its PC division to Dell or Lenovo, especially since the latter was basically tied with it for top PC supplier worldwide.
Alas, this didn't happen, so HP is essentially spinning off the business section, and doing the same with the data storage / server / services groups.
Management plans
Current HP CEO Meg Whitman will run the business group and keep a distant eye on the PC business, while Dion Weisler, one of the PC division's executives, will be the actual CEO of that company. The separation should be announced any day now.