Hewlett-Packard replace CEO

[OllyW]

Meg Whitman, formerly of eBay, has been confirmed as president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest IT company by annual revenues. Whitman has replaced Léo Apotheker, the former boss of German software company SAP, who had been running HP for the previous 11 months.

I guess HP's decision to spin off their PC Business and exit the tablet and Smartphone business hasn't gone down too well with their investors.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jacks-blog-10017212/meg-whitman-confirmed-as-boss-of-hp-10024411/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15028509

 

[miles01110]

It didn't go over well because it was deemed "too radical." So instead they bring in the woman that ran eBay into the ground.

 

[eawmp1]

Leadership at HP is in a tailspin.

 

[rdowns]

Leadership at HP is in a tailspin.

That assumes they have had any leadership at all. This will go down as an historic fail. They will study it in business school for years. Makes a nice contrast to the study of Apple.

 

[Bernard SG]

I guess HP's decision to spin off their PC Business and exit the tablet and Smartphone business hasn't gone down too well with their investors.

Indications are that those decisions will be carried out anyway.

 

[maflynn]

I'm hoping that with the replacement HP will re-embrace the hardware that they so hastily decided to discard. They were (are) a hardware company, they started off as a hardware company, its in their DNA. Why be so quick to cast it off if.

The mistake was to hire Apotheker who had 0 experience running a hardware company but only a software services corporation. Why would the board be so surprised to see him beat the drum of services over hardware. Wrong person for the job

Indications are that those decisions will be carried out anyway.

There's been conflicting reports about them cutting the PC business loose. Only time will tell. I think its too late to try to resurrect the tablets/WebOS

 

[decafjava]

To think I bought an HP desktop last fall. Really like Windows 7 but this story has made me think "I should have got a Mac".

 

[rdowns]

I'm hoping that with the replacement HP will re-embrace the hardware that they so hastily decided to discard. They were (are) a hardware company, they started off as a hardware company, its in their DNA. Why be so quick to cast it off if.

The mistake was to hire Apotheker who had 0 experience running a hardware company but only a software services corporation. Why would the board be so surprised to see him beat the drum of services over hardware. Wrong person for the job



There's been conflicting reports about them cutting the PC business loose. Only time will tell. I think its too late to try to resurrect the tablets/WebOS

I don't see them embracing hardware again. It's not like their decision to sell/spin off their PC business, effectively kill WebOS and purchase of that IT company happened without support of the board. Also, Whitman has no hardware expertise.

 

[Bernard SG]

There's been speculation that HTC could try to acquire WebOS. That would make sense, at the right price, and could lead to something really interesting for once.
I'll stick with iPad, though .

 

[Sirolway]

Jim Collins' research/book "From Good to Great" found that the companies that break away from the pack typically promote internal talent to the top job, rather than looking for celebrity execs...

Tim Cook good, Apotheker / Elop bad?

Makes a lot of sense - they understand the organisation & care about it, rather than banking their cheque & retiring / looking for the next coloration desperate for a silver bullet ...

 

[Flynnstone]

Time to replace the board at HP.

The present one is lost.

Also why is the under Mac related? It should be in other news.

 

[OllyW]

Also why is the under Mac related? It should be in other news.

This forum is for the discussion of subjects related to Apple Inc., computer industry, technology and websites.

 

[maflynn]

I don't see them embracing hardware again. It's not like their decision to sell/spin off their PC business, effectively kill WebOS and purchase of that IT company happened without support of the board. Also, Whitman has no hardware expertise.

True on both counts, Whitman has zero enterprise experience, her experience has been in the consumer focus.

As for the hardware aspect, the board did bless and agree with Apotheker but under his short stint we saw HP's stock tank and profits shrink. Also the investors are very much against HP's direction as a software only corporation given their history, talent and organization.

Only time will tell if HP reverse course on spinning off the PC business but thy better act quick because most consumers are avoiding HP since they don't want to buy a new PC that is in affect discontinued. While HP is trynig to soothe that fear, my personal and unscientific opinion is that its not working and people are looking for other non HP products at this point.

 

[rdowns]

True on both counts, Whitman has zero enterprise experience, her experience has been in the consumer focus.

I'm sure hp.com will only accept Paypal now.

As for the hardware aspect, the board did bless and agree with Apotheker but under his short stint we saw HP's stock tank and profits shrink. Also the investors are very much against HP's direction as a software only corporation given their history, talent and organization.

The board hired Apotheker from SAP. Seems pretty clear they wanted to move into services more and hardware less. Why bring him in if that wasn't their goal?

As for their stock and profits, the whole of the PC industry except Apple are in that boat. Their best chance at reversing that was WebOS and its hardware products and they clearly weren't interested in giving it a fair chance.

To me, this is the board admitting a huge mistake but not taking responsibility for it. Then they give the job to Whitman who also has no experience leading a hardware company.

 

[rhett7660]

I was wondering what took them so long to replace the last CEO. Didn't see Meg coming into the picture, but it will be interesting to see what she does.

 

[danpass]

I'd better get an HP 35s now rather than later.

Though I'd rather have a 42s

Perhaps even my old 20s (God rest it's soul

). The 35s is a more engineering related calculator so hopefully the keypad is as good as the 20s.

 

[nylonsteel]

re original thread

appears hp board is made up of homer simpsons

1) first the awkward leo apothaker - doh

2) now meg wittman - why her? - hundreds of better ceo candidates - doh

man - hp used to be an upright company - what happened to you hp?

the board should be replaced too

 

[maflynn]

The board hired Apotheker from SAP. Seems pretty clear they wanted to move into services more and hardware less. Why bring him in if that wasn't their goal?

You know what the scary part is, based on what I read on MSNBC, the majority of the board did not even meet him before hiring him. I went through a number of face to face interviews and phone interviews before being offered a position. They decided to hire him without a face to face interview/meeting.

 

[rhett7660]

You know what the scary part is, based on what I read on MSNBC, the majority of the board did not even meet him before hiring him. I went through a number of face to face interviews and phone interviews before being offered a position. They decided to hire him without a face to face interview/meeting.

Ok, for a position such as CEO, especially one that is as large as HP, a face to face with the board was probably warranted and should of happened. But this is all spilled milk now, so lets see what Meg brings to the table and what she does.

 

[KnightWRX]

I'm hoping that with the replacement HP will re-embrace the hardware that they so hastily decided to discard. They were (are) a hardware company, they started off as a hardware company, its in their DNA. Why be so quick to cast it off if.

The PC Business was only part of their hardware business. I have tons of HP hardware here that does not come from the PC Business side of HP.

----------

effectively kill WebOS hardware

Fixed. Moving forward, they plan on still developing and supporting the webOS software.

 

[rdowns]

Fixed. Moving forward, they plan on still developing and supporting the webOS software.

Yeah, I have complete confidence in what I've heard out of them lately.

 

[KnightWRX]

Yeah, I have complete confidence in what I've heard out of them lately.

Maybe you don't, but facts are facts and opinions are opinions. The fact is : They are continuing support. Until they announce they aren't or enough evidence that they aren't is provided, we can't go around claiming it as fact now can we.

 

[*LTD*]

Just read today that HP management is now asking employees what to do.

How much more lost can you get.

 

[Consultant]

Whitman has NEITHER hardware or enterprise experience.

Also, HP believes that "better communications" of their strategy will save the company. HP announcement:

"Meg Whitman has the right operational and communication skills and leadership abilities to deliver improved execution and financial performance."

More: http://obamapacman.com/2011/09/why-hp-is-failing-better-communication-skills/

The PC Business was only part of their hardware business. I have tons of HP hardware here that does not come from the PC Business side of HP.

----------



Fixed. Moving forward, they plan on still developing and supporting the webOS software.

NOPE. They are firing WebOS employees:
http://allthingsd.com/20110919/layoffs-at-hps-palm-division/

 

[*LTD*]

Whitman has NEITHER hardware or enterprise experience.

Also, HP believes that "better communications" of their strategy will save the company. HP announcement:

"Meg Whitman has the right operational and communication skills and leadership abilities to deliver improved execution and financial performance."

More: http://obamapacman.com/2011/09/why-hp-is-failing-better-communication-skills/



NOPE. They are firing WebOS employees:
http://allthingsd.com/20110919/layoffs-at-hps-palm-division/

Oh, they can still develop WebOS.

It'll just be whittled down to a two-person team, and they'll work on it on their lunch hours and maybe on weekends in-between beer runs.