personal systems group

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
November 1, 2011
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HP PC exec Phil McKinney announces his exit

By on November 1, 2011 at 10:20 PM.

HP PC exec Phil McKinney announces his exit

HP personal systems group (PSG) chief technology officer Phil McKinney announced recently that he will be retiring from the company. A few days ago, HP confirmed that it no longer had plans to spin off its personal systems group, an idea that was originally hatched by former CEO Léo Apotheker. “My time at HP started out as an advisor on innovation that turned into a request to join for a year or so to “help grow the innovation culture at HP”,” McKinney explained in a public letter published on his personal blog. “That was 9 years ago. I can honestly say that I’ve done everything that is within my power to fulfill that objective. I’m also excited that once again, I will be able to take on board seats, advisory roles and mentoring opportunities since I will no longer have to worry about conflict of interest and other corporate restrictions.” His final day with HP will be December 31st, 2011. More →

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Business
September 20, 2011
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HP may keep its PC business after all

By on September 20, 2011 at 3:40 PM.

HP may keep its PC business after all

In a recent interview with CRN, HP chairman Ray Lane outlined situations in which HP may hang on to its PC business. “If we don’t make that decision [to spin off], it’s because of two things: We can’t offer a better proposition to customers and investors,” Lane said. “If we can’t it stays inside HP.” If the company does decide to spin-off its personal systems group, Lane has suggested the company call it the “HP PC Business.” HP has the “largest and most profitable [PC] business in the world,” Lane explained during the InformationWeek 500 conference in California. “I am lobbying, and I don’t have to lobby very hard, to call it the HP PC Business. Call it HP. It will be a sister company,” Lane explained, pointing to HP’s spinoff of Agilent. “Agilent was a better business once spun off, because it was a very different business from what the rest of HP was doing.” Read on for more. More →

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Business
August 30, 2011
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HP may resurrect TouchPad, head of PC business says

By on August 30, 2011 at 10:01 AM.

HP may resurrect TouchPad, head of PC business says

On August 18th, HP announced that it was killing off its webOS devices business and considering a possible spin-off of its personal systems group (PSG). The head of HP’s PC business, executive vice president Todd Bradley, discussed the TouchPad and his company’s PC business with Reuters, explaining that a spin-off could be the “best value” for HP’s investors instead of an outright sale to competitors such as Acer or Lenovo. “Regardless of what happens, we’re the largest PC company in the world,” Bradley explained. “We need everybody energized, and while this isn’t business as usual, we need people to go out and sell products every day,” he said, noting that HP will still remain a major customer to suppliers such as LG, Microsoft, Intel and Samsung. At least one analyst has remarked that a spin-off could kill HP’s brand value. Even more surprising, however is Bradley’s remarks about HP’s TouchPad, which the company recently discontinued and sold off in a fire sale. According to Reuters, Bradley said HP may resurrect the TouchPad and noted that the tablet computing segment is “relevant, absolutely.” While Bradley appears to be standing by HP, BGR exclusively reported on August 22nd that the executive is looking to leave the company for a CEO role at another firm. More →

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