Tech and Web NEWS

Hewlett-Packard HP ready to merge printer and PC divisions?

By Irina Waqar for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:September 30, 2009

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) may merge its printer and personal-computer divisions into a single unit, according to a report Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based technology company is likely to name current PC chief Todd Bradley to head the unit, although the future role of current printer chief Vyomesh Joshi is yet unclear, the article said.

John Biggs wrote, HP’s printer division, long a cash cow, is being folded into its PC division after sales of printers and ink fell this year. Most companies broke out their printer divisions once they realized they could make a lot of money there but now that HP is beating Dell, the company may see a good reason to bring printers and PCs together.

The printing division’s sales and profits have declined during the recession. In the most recent quarter, it still had the highest profit margin of HP’s major segments, but its growth rate has fallen behind other HP divisions.

Longtime printing division head Vyomesh Joshi has launched an ambitious effort to woo new customers by promising to help businesses lower their costs through managed services contracts in which HP helps configure and operate their printing networks. He also has expanded into selling digital presses and supplies for companies that print everything from magazines to billboards and product labels.

The move would mark a reversal in the roles of the two units since Hurd took over as CEO four years ago. At that time HP (NYSE:HPQ) got 70 percent of its profit from the printer business and only 5 percent from PCs. Now printer growth has slowed and HP has become the world’s biggest computer maker by shipments.

It also reverses one of Hurd’s first moves as CEO. His predecessor, Carly Fiorina had merged the two units previously in an effort to get the PC side moving. Hurd split them when he brought in Bradley to run the PC business.

Like this article! ‹ Kraft given Nov 9 deadline to bid on Cadbury John s. Watson to Replace David O’Reilly as CEO at Chevron Corp. ›
Share this Post: Get It Delivered To Your Inbox

Readers Rating:

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Popularity:
171,144 views

Comments:
Comments

Leave a Comment:

Tagged with: Hewlett-Packard Co., HP, HP PC division, HP printer division, PC division, personal-computer, Todd Bradley, Vyomesh Joshi

2400w

very popular machine sold to Homeoffice users as well as Corporates due to the cheap purchasing price of the printer. The OEM cartridges have increased by over 30% in price over the past 18 month and the user has to option to purchase standard as well as high yield cartridges . Highyield cartridges print with a cheaper cost per copy. There is also a drum kit that needs replacing every 45000 pages. The Drumunit contains a fuse that resets a pagecounter within the printer and will stop the printer from operating once the counter reaches 45K.