Channel Marker
« Despite consolidation, innovation spikes in security software
HP to dump WebOS TouchPads, phones »
Aug 18 2011 5:42PM GMT
HP without PCs? Not so unthinkable
Barbara Darrow Profile: badarrow
Hewlett-Packard is on the verge of spinning off its PC business, if reports out of Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal are accurate.
HP is slated to announce its earnings today after the markets close.
A spin off of the PC business has been rumored on and off for years as those products get more and more commoditized. The whole PC-and-laptop category is also under pressure from smaller, nimbler, more consumer-focused tablets gain favor.
HP CEO Leo Apotheker has repeatedly noted that he wants to take the company deeper into enterprise software and services, where it lags IBM.
Bloomberg also reported that HP was nearing a deal to buy Autonomy, a UK-based search company for $10 billion. Think of the headline possibilities there: HP gains Autonomy, etc.
Former HP CEO Mark Hurd used to justify preserving the company's margin-starved PC business because its purchasing power there gave it the best-possible pricing on the newest and best components. But many wonder whether margins are falling so fast to break-even that whatever efficiencies can be wrung out of the supply chain no longer matter.
Let us know what you think about this post; email Barbara Darrow, Senior News Director at bdarrow@techtarget.com,
Check out more IT channel news on SearchITChannel.com and follow us on Twitter.
Commentary for value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators on partner programs, storage, security, networking and systems.