HP Spinning Off WebOS and Exiting Hardware Business

A number of readers submitted rumors about some announcements HP was set to make today. Now, the announcements have actually happened, and the news looks grim. For starters, they are exiting the tablet and phone market and repositioning webOS for use in appliances and vehicles. While confirming they are in talks to acquire Autonomy, they also announced they are considering exiting the PC hardware business entirely in order to focus on their software business.

Re:Software?

[jonbryce]

HP's software business is EDS, which is charging governments vast sums of money for IT systems that don't work.

Agilent

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the company that built Silicon Valley and for decades was the benchmark for tech innovation, and it's so painful to watch them floundering like this.

No, that was Agilent, the test and measurement company.

We're talking about HP, the Printer/Business Services/Bottom-barrel PC company. Totally different.

Re:Audio webcast link

[Just Brew It!]

Profit margins in the PC hardware business are razor-thin, and not likely to improve. So while their PC business does generate a large percentage of their revenue, it is a much smaller percentage of their profits.

HP is one of the "Big 4"

[drgroove]

I'm a little surprised more /.'ers aren't familiar with HP's software and services division. HP is considered to be one of the "Big 4" of enterprise infrastructure, service, and asset management, along with CA, BMC, and IBM. HP's acquisition of EDS strengthened their professional consulting position, and put them squarely in competition with IBM as their main software/services competitor. Enterprise software is basically a license to print money. Companies and governments spend inordinate amounts of cash on the Big 4's closed-source software, enterprise license agreements, support contracts, and implementation services. If HP is anything like CA or IBM, they're making the vast majority of their money on enterprise software and services, and very little on PC's and devices. Spinning off or selling their PC / device manufacturing business made sense for IBM, and it makes sense for HP, especially in light of the consumer competition in that space. There simply isn't the same competition in the enterprise space, hence why the Big 4 can charge the inflated prices they do for their software and services.