- Jun 6, 2007
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Hewlett Packard managements' disclosure that they are selling or spinning off their PC business is a move that will wreck an Iconic American Computer company. Prior to this announcement, Hewlett Packard was an unmatched giant in the computer industry yes IBM is also a giant in the industry but HP has a uniqueness they can offer a big business or big organization both the software and hardware they need from A to Z to fulfill their needs. It is colossally and off-the-charts stupid what HP is doing getting rid of their PC business, they are throwing away their edge their competitive advantage in getting business for the balance of their computer systems business. Just consider that computer systems' customers the executives in these big businesses and organizations that buy computer systems for their organization they prefer to go to one vendor for all their computer system needs that is wisdom from their perspective they go to one vendor to avoid the problem of multiple vendors pointing fingers at each other when things don't work, they go to one vendor to control costs (they can get a reliable price for a turn key system), they go to one powerhouse vendor for confidence that the the computer system purchased will meet their needs (such a vendor will protect its reputation as a complete system deliverer and deliver).
Part of the problem America is seeing with the developments at HP is what America has seen numerous times in the past which is Wall Street puts these high income expectations that have little or no connection with the businesses business on corporate boardrooms and boardrooms wreck their business trying to meet these expectations. In Hewlett Packard's case the essence of their business is providing complete computer systems both hardware and software for businesses and organization, the economy is coming out of the worst recession it has had in the last eighty years coupled with governments having reached their borrowing limits after decades of poor stewardship so HP business is dramatically off there isn't the customer demand for their goods and services and so their income is low but this won't last for ever (plus many countries like India/Brazil/Russia/China are poised for tremendous growth in the long-term) in a good country the executives and the stockholders would just ride out this dry spell they wouldn't take a meat clever to the essence of their business. The other mistake HP management made which a lot of corporate managements make in trying to appease Wall Street is they go into businesses that are outside the essence of their business, HP went into the smart phone business and tablet business which are outside their computer systems business. One might say that the Personal Computer business HP is shedding is different from the computer systems business HP is retaining, this would not be true because HP computer system customers buy an enormous amount of table PCs and laptop PCs these types of sales are a big portion of HP's PC business; HP's PC business is not a personal use computer business from HP's perspective it is really a business PC business that has both a business and non-business market!
From the American peoples' perspective it is really sad what HP is doing here. What is going to happen here is that Dell will take the place of HP in the marketplace because they will or soon will offer all the hardware and software products big businesses or organizations need to meet their computer system needs. HP will never overtake IBM in the industry because IBM has the reputation
and the staff to maintain their premier role and once HP has lost its hardware edge it will be just another computer services provider like say Unisys, not to mention the way foreign companies compete the U.S. computer services industry will certainly see increased strong foreign competition in the future! As for HP personal computer business, the employees of this business should brace for really bad times a lot of them will be losing their job because sales will certainly drop at their business once their separated from HP because today a significant portion of HP's PC businesses sales are PCs sold as part of a bundled sale to big businesses and organization when HP sells whole systems to these entities when the PC business is separated it won't have these sales plus HP today gets low prices on computer chips and other parts in their PCs because they buy in such bulk because they also buy for their servers and mainframe business when the PC business is separated it won't have this part price advantage, furthermore to people in their 40's and older especially corporate executives that age they have an impression of Hewlett Packard including their PC business that these guys are the engineering guys these guys know their stuff when it comes to technology their reputation is solid in this area one can't go wrong buying their product when the PC business is separated it won't have that extraordinary reputation.
Here is one American that hopes one or a group of investors buys enough HP stock that they can get control of the company and kick Leo Apotheker and all the other money sucking leeches, soulless greedy lowlifes that make up the board of directors out of the company and reverse this completely idiotic decision to dump the HP PC business. On a broader note, it is hoped that politicians would do their job and protect valuable businesses in the U.S. economy from Wall Street investors that only think of short-term income and shareholder value sacrificing long-term value in these areas and the interests of employees and their communities that bare the negative effects of their short-sighted decisions. A start could be if Washington politicians passed laws for these big corporations mandating term length for board members be at least two maybe three years in length so these members wouldn't have to be so concerned that they would lose their jobs if they weren't rubber stamps for the person(s) that put them on the board, mandate all significant division spinoffs or sales have to put to a shareholder vote and give good board members the protection to do the right thing mandate that they not only have a duty to maximize earnings and shareholder value but also to look out for the long-term value of the company, be fair to employees and to act like good citizens that care about the welfare and well-being of their community and country!
Part of the problem America is seeing with the developments at HP is what America has seen numerous times in the past which is Wall Street puts these high income expectations that have little or no connection with the businesses business on corporate boardrooms and boardrooms wreck their business trying to meet these expectations. In Hewlett Packard's case the essence of their business is providing complete computer systems both hardware and software for businesses and organization, the economy is coming out of the worst recession it has had in the last eighty years coupled with governments having reached their borrowing limits after decades of poor stewardship so HP business is dramatically off there isn't the customer demand for their goods and services and so their income is low but this won't last for ever (plus many countries like India/Brazil/Russia/China are poised for tremendous growth in the long-term) in a good country the executives and the stockholders would just ride out this dry spell they wouldn't take a meat clever to the essence of their business. The other mistake HP management made which a lot of corporate managements make in trying to appease Wall Street is they go into businesses that are outside the essence of their business, HP went into the smart phone business and tablet business which are outside their computer systems business. One might say that the Personal Computer business HP is shedding is different from the computer systems business HP is retaining, this would not be true because HP computer system customers buy an enormous amount of table PCs and laptop PCs these types of sales are a big portion of HP's PC business; HP's PC business is not a personal use computer business from HP's perspective it is really a business PC business that has both a business and non-business market!
From the American peoples' perspective it is really sad what HP is doing here. What is going to happen here is that Dell will take the place of HP in the marketplace because they will or soon will offer all the hardware and software products big businesses or organizations need to meet their computer system needs. HP will never overtake IBM in the industry because IBM has the reputation
and the staff to maintain their premier role and once HP has lost its hardware edge it will be just another computer services provider like say Unisys, not to mention the way foreign companies compete the U.S. computer services industry will certainly see increased strong foreign competition in the future! As for HP personal computer business, the employees of this business should brace for really bad times a lot of them will be losing their job because sales will certainly drop at their business once their separated from HP because today a significant portion of HP's PC businesses sales are PCs sold as part of a bundled sale to big businesses and organization when HP sells whole systems to these entities when the PC business is separated it won't have these sales plus HP today gets low prices on computer chips and other parts in their PCs because they buy in such bulk because they also buy for their servers and mainframe business when the PC business is separated it won't have this part price advantage, furthermore to people in their 40's and older especially corporate executives that age they have an impression of Hewlett Packard including their PC business that these guys are the engineering guys these guys know their stuff when it comes to technology their reputation is solid in this area one can't go wrong buying their product when the PC business is separated it won't have that extraordinary reputation.
Here is one American that hopes one or a group of investors buys enough HP stock that they can get control of the company and kick Leo Apotheker and all the other money sucking leeches, soulless greedy lowlifes that make up the board of directors out of the company and reverse this completely idiotic decision to dump the HP PC business. On a broader note, it is hoped that politicians would do their job and protect valuable businesses in the U.S. economy from Wall Street investors that only think of short-term income and shareholder value sacrificing long-term value in these areas and the interests of employees and their communities that bare the negative effects of their short-sighted decisions. A start could be if Washington politicians passed laws for these big corporations mandating term length for board members be at least two maybe three years in length so these members wouldn't have to be so concerned that they would lose their jobs if they weren't rubber stamps for the person(s) that put them on the board, mandate all significant division spinoffs or sales have to put to a shareholder vote and give good board members the protection to do the right thing mandate that they not only have a duty to maximize earnings and shareholder value but also to look out for the long-term value of the company, be fair to employees and to act like good citizens that care about the welfare and well-being of their community and country!
