HP, a Silicon Valley Icon, Is Ready for Its Break-Up

HP, a Silicon Valley Icon, Is Ready for Its Break-Up

March 2, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

One of the nation's most storied tech companies will split in two this weekend, another casualty of seismic shifts in the way people use technology – and big-company sluggishness in responding.
Hewlett-Packard was an early pioneer of what became the model for Silicon Valley startups: Founded in 1939 by two Stanford graduates in a Palo Alto, California, garage, HP was long celebrated for its engineering know-how and laid-back corporate culture. It made hefty profits as it grew into a multinational giant that sold a wide range of computer gear and commercial tech services.
But after struggling to keep pace with recent trends like the rise of smartphones and cloud computing. HP's board decided last year to create two smaller companies, each with a narrower focus.
HP Inc. will sell personal computers and printers; Hewlett Packard Enterprise will sell commercial computer systems, software and tech services. Starting Monday, each will trade separately on the New York Stock Exchange..

Whitman Readies Slimmed Down HP for Duel With Bulked-Up Dell

Whitman Readies Slimmed Down HP for Duel With Bulked-Up Dell

March 3, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Meg Whitman long resisted a breakup of Hewlett-Packard Co., saying that selling computers to consumers and businesses was the best way to keep the Silicon Valley pioneer alive.
Now, with personal-computer demand in decline and companies flocking to the cloud to run their operations, she's on board with a split taking place next week. The chief executive's biggest job: proving to customers, investors and employees that a smaller, enterprise-focused HP will be faster and more nimble against competitors.
To get there, analysts recommend that Whitman deepen HP's expertise in such areas as security and data analytics, including through smaller, strategic acquisitions. Another area for improvement is catering to customers who do more business over mobile devices.
Whitman's split-up plan stands in contrast to Michael Dell's $67 billion deal to combine Dell with storage-maker EMC in the largest-ever technology merger. He's betting that a single provider of enterpr..