back to article Report: HP to SPLIT OFF PC, printer biz from enterprise wing

Hewlett-Packard is reportedly planning a big break-up of its businesses, splitting its PC and printer operations from the company's corporate hardware and services divisions. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said that the huge rejig could be announced by HP on Monday. One source told the …

  1. petur

    Again?

    I remember the Agilent like it was yesterday ;)

    1. Adrian 4

      Re: Again?

      You're out of date. Agilent are just the life sciences equipment now .. the real HP, the test equipment division, is now called Keysight.

    2. Shannon Jacobs
      Holmes

      Me, too or three

      Speaking as a long-time shareholder, I wonder why HP keeps picking such awful CEOs.

      Speaking as someone who like freedom, this is the WRONG kind of stock split, but it's basically the cancer-first required by the rules of the business game in America. Doing a good job is no good. Earning a fair profit is for suckers. Grow like a cancer, and don't worry about killing the host. The ONLY concern is maximum profit in the next quarter's report.

      That's what happens when the rules are written by the most cheaply bribed politicians working for the least ethical but super-greediest businessmen in the world. Unfortunately, these rules are pointless, because their problem cannot be solved. There is NO amount of money that would be enough to satisfy them, no matter how much they beggar everyone else.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Me, too or three

        This is so sad... and so true.

        Most companies are driving with one eye on the rear view mirror to satisfy Wall St and avoid takeovers.

        My theory is Mergers & Acquisitions should be banned. So if a company wants to grow it has to do it organically, and if a company is suffering it can't just put itself up for sale to hide bad management decisions. Either way, the management can focus on long term growth but have nowhere to hide if they fail.

        And if you buy a stock, you're investing in that company. You're not taking a stake hoping for (or trying to force) a takeover.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not the worst idea

    Many of the things I saw being run wrong when I worked there were when rules and management decisions that might have been a good idea for the Manufacturing side were applied wholesale to the Enterprise business. However at this point it may be too late for some bits of the Enterprise business and split from the other may be too small to survive in my country.

    1. Miss Lincolnshire
      Devil

      Re: Not the worst idea

      Poor old Leo. It seems his crime was not to be American otherwise the long required split of what is pretty much standard PCs, Printers and Chanel No.5 priced Ink would have happened years ago.

      It will be refreshing to no longer have to have a two week "factory break" at Christmas simply because the poor sod that builds the hardware on the other side of the world has to.

      No doubt the admin costs of the split will hit this years pay round budget and I suppose we'll need a new name and new start for those of us left with Whitman to host and supply end user services. "Electronic Data Systems" has a nice ring to it...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    they do PCs and services?

    I'm amazed, I thought they were only in the printer ink business.

    1. David Dawson

      Re: they do PCs and services?

      they still do a reasonably good line in awesome ideas. http://www8.hp.com/hpnext/posts/discover-day-two-future-now-machine-hp

      Execution, still waiting :-(

      If HP drop, there'll be very, very few companies still doing basic materials research beyond the 'make it smaller' that the fabs can do themselves.

      1. justincormack

        Re: they do PCs and services?

        They claim to be spending a billion on "The Machine" but there is very little sign, eg try to find anyone working on it.

  4. Robert E A Harvey

    Bound to be a success

    After the recent run of stageringly shrewd business decisions at HP there is no way this could possibly be a mistak.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bound to be a success

      Which will get the "Hewlett" name, and which the "Packard" name?

      1. Stoneshop
        Facepalm

        Re: Bound to be a success

        Which will get the "Hewlett" name,

        Keysight.

        and which the "Packard" name?

        Keysight

        The new parts will have to fight over the names "Hopeless" and "Panic"

      2. LynxO

        Re: Bound to be a success

        Good one.

      3. Frankee Llonnygog

        Re: Bound to be a success

        Whichever gets Packard can then market a Straight Eight

        1. Frankee Llonnygog

          Re: Bound to be a success

          Come to think of it - PC maker called Packard? That rings a Bell

  5. John Styles

    Hmm

    So many names they could use for the 2 bits

    Compaq

    EDS

    DEC

    Palm

    Autonomy

    et al

  6. David Austin

    Oh Dear...

    Hope it goes better than the last time they threatened to spin out the PC Business: 30%+ off the share price, and CEO gone within a month.

    Still have a shrewd suspicion that HP and Nokia got drunk one night in 2012, and dared each other which one could commit corporate suicide the quickest...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Since HP isn't merging with EMC, they're now trying to copy its Federation? Love it! Apparently The Machine which secretly runs HP (and Meg like an audioanimatron) still has a few bugs.

  8. Montreal Sean

    shades of IBM?

    Didn't IBM do this more than a decade ago?

    I foresee HP selling off the PC/Printer division in a few years time.

    1. Medixstiff

      Re: shades of IBM?

      To whom could they reasonably sell it too, for the overinflated price they would expect?

      1. TheOtherHobbes

        Re: shades of IBM?

        I hear Mike Lynch has some spare cash.

      2. Frankee Llonnygog

        Re: shades of IBM?

        Lenovo might buy the name for a dolllar

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    OTA (Obligatory Titanic Analogy)

    Not so much re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as sawing the Titanic in half in mid-ocean and hoping the engine room powers both halves

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't really see anything new here anyway. Enterprise Group and PPS are run completely separately anyway - separate account teams, management, etc, already. Operationally this will make no difference, it must just make sense from an accounting perspective. There are only a handful of people in the whole of HP who have an interest in both.

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge

      Re: AC

      "......There are only a handful of people in the whole of HP who have an interest in both." The interesting bit will be the channel - how does it affect the 'gold partners' that flog the high-end gear and will it remove or add to the hurdles required to sell the enterprise products? I assume they will have to split orders for the two different lines from now on and not be able to use the same discounts for both?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: AC

        They have to split the orders anyway! PPS and EG operate entirely separately as it is! Accreditations - I would have thought partners will inherit the accreditations they already have.

      2. Archaon

        Re: AC

        "The interesting bit will be the channel - how does it affect the 'gold partners' that flog the high-end gear"

        It doesn't - PPS and EG partner statuses are completely independent of each other. A partner can be PPS Platinum and EG Silver, or EG Platinum and not even partnered in PPS, or Platinum in both and so on...

        "and will it remove or add to the hurdles required to sell the enterprise products?"

        Not unless the new company formed from the EG side of the business remove those hurdles, no.

        "I assume they will have to split orders for the two different lines from now on and not be able to use the same discounts for both?"

        As you've probably gathered after reading what I've said above, discount levels etc are also different from PPS and EG. For example any discount gained from being a Platinum PPS Partner only gives discounts on PPS products and does not result in any discount on EG products.

        As some others have said, from the channel point of view HP may as well be two companies anyway.

  11. Matt Bryant Silver badge
    Happy

    HP Inc....

    .... Henceforth to be known as HP Ink.

  12. Dr. G. Freeman
    Joke

    What about the brown sauce division, nobody's mentioned that ?

  13. FDavids
    FAIL

    Two losers don't make a winner.

    Hmmm. HP is losing PC business to Lenovo, Server business to Cisco, Printer and storage business to everyone. Not sure how splitting one big company who is losing share into two smaller companies that are losing share helps other than allowing shareholders to pick their poison.

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