Leo Apotheker

Business
November 20, 2012
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HP Autonomy Scandal

Former HP CEO Apotheker says he’s ‘stunned’ the deal he engineered was allegedly riddled with fraud

By on November 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM.

Former HP CEO Apotheker says he’s ‘stunned’ the deal he engineered was allegedly riddled with fraud

HP (HPQ) is still being haunted by the stench of former CEO Léo Apotheker. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apotheker, “who orchestrated” HP’s purchase of enterprise IT firm Autonomy, is “both stunned and disappointed” to hear that the company committed alleged accounting fraud that forced HP to write off $8.8 billion. But despite this, Apotheker defended his tenure at HP and said that he did his due diligence in checking out Autonomy’s accounting. Former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch, for his part, has denied any wrongdoing.  More →

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Business
December 29, 2011
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Looking back at 2011: HP kills, revives and then open sources webOS

By on December 29, 2011 at 2:00 PM.

Looking back at 2011: HP kills, revives and then open sources webOS

There’s no question about it: HP made one of the biggest blunders of the year when it comes to how the company handled Palm and webOS. During the past 12 months, HP relieved one CEO who was hired less than a year earlier in October 2010, killed off its webOS hardware, hired another CEO, brought webOS back from the dead and then open sourced it. The company also announced that it would discontinue its Pre, Veer and TouchPad products, but then flip-flopped and said we can expect new webOS devices in the future. It’s a confusing company to say the least, so let’s start all the way at the beginning and trace the curious path HP took with webOS this year. More →

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Business
September 21, 2011
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HP may oust Apotheker for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman

By on September 21, 2011 at 1:45 PM.

HP may oust Apotheker for former eBay CEO Meg Whitman

HP may replace current CEO Leo Apotheker with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, AllThingsD reported on Wednesday. Reportedly, HP board members are not pleased with “a series of management mishaps,” inside HP. It is unclear if those mishaps are related to HP’s recent decision to kill off its webOS devices and spin off its PC business, which resulted in recent job cuts from the former Palm team. The board may be more upset HP’s stock has tanked more than 40% since Apotheker took the reins in September, 2010. In any case, if Apotheker does get relieved of his duties as CEO, one analyst has suggested he will still have made $9.4 million for the year. Whitman, who is also on HP’s board, is reportedly interested in the job but the appointment is far from official, AllThingsD said. Whitman’s experience in the consumer market might help HP if ever does decide to revive the TouchPad and other webOS hardware efforts. Whitman served as eBay’s chief executive for 10 years until 2008 before trying her hand in politics. More →

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mobile
August 17, 2011
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Following quiet European launch, HP still has no firm U.S. launch date for Pre3

By on August 17, 2011 at 3:35 PM.

Following quiet European launch, HP still has no firm U.S. launch date for Pre3

Remember when HP CEO Leo Apotheker said new webOS products would ship “within weeks” of being announced? It has been more than six months since HP unveiled the Pre3 and the phone has yet to surface in the U.S. Pre-orders for the device began in Germany yesterday for €349 ($500) and an unlocked version is available for £299.00 ($493) from HP’s European website, but the company still can not provide a firm United States launch date. Speaking to PreCentral recently, the company provided the following statement:

HP is excited to begin its regional rollout of the Pre3, the only phone today that offers users a slide-out keyboard coupled with a large touchscreen and the fastest speed (1.4GHz processor – the fastest on the market). We expect to share additional information for U.S. customers soon.

If HP keeps sitting on the Pre3 launch, its “fastest [processor] on the market” claim will soon be moot. More →

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mobile
June 29, 2011
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HP in talks to license webOS

By on June 29, 2011 at 6:15 PM.

HP in talks to license webOS

During an interview with Bloomberg recently, HP’s CEO Leo Apokether said that his company is in talks to license its webOS software to other manufacturers. “We are talking to a number of companies,” he said.”I can share with you that a number of companies have expressed interest. We are continuing our conversations.” Apotheker said there’s no specific time frame for when another company may announce that it’s using webOS and noted that “there is no time pressure.” However, Bloomberg said that Samsung has been named as one of the potential licensees, but that information is still being kept private. “Samsung will continue to strengthen its relationship with Google to provide ultimate values to customers,” Jason Kim, a Samsung spokesperson, said — hinting at the firm’s commitment to Android.  HP’s first webOS tablet, the TouchPad, will make its debut later this week on July 1st for $499.99. More →

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Tablets
March 14, 2011
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HP TouchPad confirmed to launch in June

By on March 14, 2011 at 7:33 PM.

HP TouchPad confirmed to launch in June

We exclusively reported that the HP TouchPad, the company’s first webOS tablet, would ship in June, and HP’s CEO has gone on record stating that. Leo Apotheker, earlier today, offered up the release date at the enterprise-focused HP Summit in San Francisco. He also went on to detail that the webOS PC initiative would launch in beta, and run in a web browser “later this year.” More →

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mobile
January 28, 2011
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HP CEO says new webOS products soon, another announcement coming in March

By on January 28, 2011 at 3:21 PM.

HP CEO says new webOS products soon, another announcement coming in March

Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker spoke with the BBC during the World Economic Forum in Davos, shedding new light on the company’s plans for webOS over the next two months. Moving forward, the HP boss claims the gap between product announcements and launches will shrink substantially. In fact, we should expect webOS devices to launch “within weeks” of next month’s event on February 9th. Of note, Apotheker says that upcoming devices will be HP-branded so we might soon have to say goodbye to the Palm name when it comes to webOS devices. Looking beyond February, HP will have another major announcement coming on March 14th, when the company will detail its “vision of what HP is capable of in the future.” We have to say, we’re now more excited than ever to see what might come when Palm’s silky smooth webOS platform is finally slipped into the top-notch hardware it deserves. More →

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