HP Will Make Decision on PC Business' Fate in 12 Weeks
It will take up to 12 weeks for HP to make a decision about its PC business.
Just days after HP said it was mulling over plans to spin off its Personal Systems Group and discontinue webOS-based smartphones and tablets, several things happened: the tablets were essentially liquidated at fire sale prices (with another wave to come, strangely enough), the company vowed to support the devices with OS updates despite putting the software on hold, the Pre3 was canceled here in the States but sold at "fire sale" prices overseas with promises of OS updates, and the HP Compaq 8200 Elite AIO PC was launched.
Did you catch that last part? HP launched a new PC although it has no idea what it wants to do with its PC business. Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group, told CNBC on Monday that the company has not made a decision on what it plans to do with its PC business, and may not make a formal decision for another 12 weeks. In the meantime, HP plans to focus on the enterprise sector – including cloud computing – and will resume manufacturing tablets without the webOS software.
That's right: HP is still in the tablet business.
"What we said was we would stop manufacturing webOS devices," he said. "We did not say we would get out of the tablet business, but we would stop that piece of webOS go-to-market activity. WebOS is still a strategically important asset for us. We've seen interest from a number of large parties that are interested in working with us to potentially license webOS. We've always said that we bought Palm for that webOS operating system, and this is part of the strategy playing out."
According to Bradley, HP is looking at a variety of strategic alternatives to ownership of the Personal Systems Group, from spin-off to absolutely nothing. After studying their options for eight to twelve weeks, company officials will sit down with the board, take them through the results and will "make the best decision for shareholders."
HP's recent announcement about spinning off its PC business and canceling webOS-based smartphones and tablets seemed to come out of nowhere. Very little information was released at the time HP made the announcement, and from a distance, it seemed that HP really didn't have a solid plan to follow in regards to releasing information in the coming days. Because of that, various rumors surfaced that included his departure – ridiculous and unfounded as Bradley calls them – which could have been avoided had HP fully disclosed its overall plans from the start.
"My intent is to work through this process with HP," he said. "At the time whatever action is determined, my intent is to lead that. If it stays with HP, I will continue to run it."
To see Bradley's whole ten-minute interview with CNBC, check out the video here.
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This is a shame; HP really seems to be foundering. Even a poorly chosen course, steered straight, will lead out of the storm. They seem to have no rudder, or no captain holding on to it. I'm not sure they know who or what they are any more.
Whatever, HP sucks.
Hp CEO needs to GTFO. HP can be a fantastic innovative business, but that CEO just doesn't care.
I don't know how much a IBM type of business will work for HP, but this is too much of a drastic change and it could make HP close its doors forever. Or someones buys them out like Samsung, which I wouldn't mind. I like Samsung
Yea, HP is the biggest pile of crap out there, it started with the DV series laptops.
o-o.. I wonder if they will say "well the tablets sold so well that we are going to just sell them at 350 till we get a new model!"
HP has no clue what the Hell they're doing. They can't even communicate well to their consumers. What HP needs to do is stop confusing everyone with oddball statements and simply come out and say what their plan is going forward. Somehow I don't think HP knows what their plan is- and stockholders can sense that. If HP wants their stock to go to the toilet then keep on pulling this crap. HP's CEO should be fired considering how poorly he has handled the public relations of his company this week and how he completely squandered company resources by not taking a definitive stand on the future of webOS. If HP wants to be a solid company they need to first become smaller. They're simply in too many markets and have too many product lines. Reduce the number of models for devices and focus heavily on raising the quality of devices being produced. Second, get new management. GM went through a slew of CEOs before they found one that was a transparent leader. I know what GMs focus is right now: small fuel-efficient cars and the Volt. I have no clue what HP's focus is right now. Thirdly, stop trying to make a quick buck in the next quarter for investors- make some long-term goals and capitalize on them. If HP can do these three simple things I think they can become a solid company again. Oh and HP- if you stop producing PCs you really will have shown to the world what kind of morons you are.
Yeah, H.P. sucks. I owned a few of there printers and a laptop and they all crapped out on me in less then a year...
It's alright, the market share will just transport itself to some other company like Dell or IBM....
most of you people commenting have probably never held a real job in industry to realize HP is the number one name in enterprise level equipment. they make alot more than the laptop your mom bought you for college that came with a free printer. I'm so sick of the level of ignorance on this website.
most of you people commenting have probably never held a real job in industry to realize HP is the number one name in enterprise level equipment. they make alot more than the laptop your mom bought you for college that came with a free printer. I'm so sick of the level of ignorance on this website.
We all apologize for making you sick.
I don't think it matters if they are number one or not in any domain, I would seriously reconsider getting them for my enterprise computing needs if I was getting all of their statements. They sound like a company without a CEO, and that is NOT a business partner I would consider.
It takes decades to build a good reputation, but it takes only a few days to destroy it.
Another greasy unethical CEO, Leo Apotheker and his yes men destroying a long time established company and playing with peoples lives, just so they can add aa few more bucks to their pockets.
Leo Apotheker, his executive officers and the BoD NEED TO BE FIRED RIGHT NOW!
I'm planning on selling my HP PC for $600 on CL. I'm done with PC brands. Overpriced, under-powered, and over-hyped.
they just need a new CEO. The dude just got in the chair and drove the well established company to the ground. Bought Palm for webos, but did nothing to improve webos. Their pcs are fairly good compared to the other brands. They just need a new CEO and to improve on their pc marketing, and dedicate themselves to PC. There shouldnt be too much investment on the tablet fad.
HP sucks... The hardware is cheap and shitty and the software is bloated.
most of you people commenting have probably never held a real job in industry to realize HP is the number one name in enterprise level equipment. they make alot more than the laptop your mom bought you for college that came with a free printer. I'm so sick of the level of ignorance on this website.
You should realize that HP is also number one in PC sales globally, because of this more Enterprise customers use HP Enterprise equipment, because its been tested with all of their PC's. HP floundering with deciding to stop selling PC's will also cause the Enterprise market to use Dell or IBM for their PC deployments, which will also cause the Enterprise to use IBM or Dell for their Enterprise hardware. I see HP loosing a lot of its Enterprise agreements with the next contract refresh cycle, due to being unable to supply the entire enterprise experience from end to end.
Why buy from multiple vendors and deal with multiple support contacts, contracts, business cases, distributor's, licensing agreements etc... I actually have a job in IT, and having both your enterprise and end point equipment coming from the same company saves us thousands of man hours a year, mainly because all of our servers have been tested to work with all of our desktops and laptops by the vendor, and all of the support issues we have the vendor has probably already seen and knows how to resolve. I'm sick of the ignorant users on this site too. Unlike you though, I don't see them in the mirror.
Yeah, H.P. sucks. I owned a few of there printers and a laptop and they all crapped out on me in less then a year...
with many consumer grade printers, its almost a disposable item... laptop however... that shouldnt have a problem for at least 3 years if built right.
most of you people commenting have probably never held a real job in industry to realize HP is the number one name in enterprise level equipment. they make alot more than the laptop your mom bought you for college that came with a free printer. I'm so sick of the level of ignorance on this website.
most of us probably realise this... however if someone is good at the pro level, there consumer level should also be good.
just because they are well known, look at bose, doesn't mean they are good or are worth anything, its just they are the most bought/known.
they just need a new CEO. The dude just got in the chair and drove the well established company to the ground. Bought Palm for webos, but did nothing to improve webos. Their pcs are fairly good compared to the other brands. They just need a new CEO and to improve on their pc marketing, and dedicate themselves to PC. There shouldnt be too much investment on the tablet fad.
tablets arent a fad, but people will get over them soon... but they wont go away, as they are a great idea, and medium for people who dont like conventional laptops/pc and only want to use the internet/facebook.
come on HP do the world a favor and stop selling your shoddy computers
Hmm, that's suit speak for it's going to take the bean-counters and spin masters awhile to get the charts together. It will be interesting to see where in the world they'll land...
most of you people commenting have probably never held a real job in industry to realize HP is the number one name in enterprise level equipment. they make alot more than the laptop your mom bought you for college that came with a free printer. I'm so sick of the level of ignorance on this website.
dude get real everyone know about HP printers and most people know how good there business line of computer equipment is but when it comes to consumer laptops and desktops they skimp on everything. there nothing but filled with the cheapest low grade computers parts
I'm planning on selling my HP PC for $600 on CL. I'm done with PC brands. Overpriced, under-powered, and over-hyped.
it took you this long to figure that out? seriously?
wow guess someone didn't like my previous comment... negz.
so who disagrees? anyone think HPs hardware is good?! its cheap.
as for software... you don't need anything but windows. all else is bloatware.
得來去找新工作了...
it took you this long to figure that out? seriously?
No it didn't...I've had that computer for over a year just for school work. Apparently, I didn't have the money for my own build at the time. Please, don't just draw conclusions; think before you speak.
They need to stop making PCs with prices marked up by 30%. No wonder they don't get enough business!
When you consider the overall value of the HP PC it IS pretty darn good for those that don't want to build there own. Lots of ability to configure the specs you need, good prices, excellent warranty, and very good tech support. Heck for just a bit more money a typical user can opt for a 4 yr warranty when the HP tech will come to you and repair the unit. You really can't get that kind of support from any other PC maker.
My thoughts are with all the PSG customers and the PSG HP employees .
I only WISH the BoD had enough sense to fire Leo and his incompetent executive officers.
most of you people commenting have probably never held a real job in industry to realize HP is the number one name in enterprise level equipment. they make alot more than the laptop your mom bought you for college that came with a free printer. I'm so sick of the level of ignorance on this website.
I know they do more that that, but the consumer-level stuff sucks.
It's obvious where Jobs earns his money: Having a vision and the motivation to see it through
What was that about another fire sale in the near future?
HP doesn't know what its doing. If they are THINKING of selling off their PC business - then it means they ARE selling off their PC business.
HP: "We've always said that we bought Palm for that webOS operating system, and this is part of the strategy playing out."
I call BS on that one. They were planning on vaulting to #2 between the iPad and Android with the TouchPad, they had their cellular partners, some accessories. (PS: Lenovo is already ahead of HP on product design with their Android tablets) - My guess, even while their sales tanked - they might have made a million TouchPads... to get to #2 spot, they would need 500,000+ units a month.
They failed by not finishing up WebOS and its issues with the hardware (between the OS). They called it a business tablet... but sold it in consumer stores (So yeah, it *IS* a consumer product). Missing functions such as an app for the camera.
The iPad is murdering everyone in the business sector - there isn't much to set up and its functional.
HP consumer will most likely collapse. I wouldnt use them for enterprise work... they will lose business there as well. Not sure why Samsung will buy HP PC division for. They already make very cool notebooks and in other parts of the world - they sell desktops.
given this world wide depression, new forces are emerging while the old are scratching their heads on what to do to get their annual bonus while their business stagnates and collapses around them.
the answer is power efficient & mobile in practically every sector and if they can't figure out how or when to shut down everything their taking a loss on if they can't figure out how to turn it around into profitable, well then i say they deserve to go out of business as fast as possible.
this is the era of consolidate their market and liquidate their competition like the 80's.
welcome to your world wide open free market economy.
Maybe we'll see a fire sale of HP PC's in 12 weeks!