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HP Splitting Up Confirmed 53

Posted by CmdrTaco from the divide-and-stumble dept.
ChrisMul writes "We just heard the announcement over the company wide speaker system. Hewlett-Packard IS splitting into two companies. One will be a "Testing and Measurements" company who's name has yet to be chosen, and the other will be the computing division, which will keep the "HP" name. This is going to happen as they company also chooses a new CEO...time to find a new job... "
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HP Splitting Up Confirmed More

HP Splitting Up Confirmed

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  • HP-48? (Score:1)

    by Average ( 648 )
    I do admin a few HP-UX boxes... definetly my least favourite of six I keep here.

    My question is, what does this do for the part of HP that made their best product ever, the HP-48GX calculator. I always used to love going down the calculator aisle and laughing b/c of how great my HP was. Now, I will concede that TI (the TI-92) has caught up to the power of the 48G series. Will they innovate the handheld computing market again? Please? I need RPN... and I don't know an engineering mind who doesn't carry an HP.
  • Posted by planders:

    Can anyone explain this? I didn't know VAR's core competency was in hard core software engineering such as would be required to accelerate IA-64 for Linux. It's not a criticism, just an expression of surprise. I knew that Cygnus was working with Intel for a 64 bit egcs, but I thought VAR was purely a hardware house. Perhaps VAR is working on motherboard designs and not software? Please correct me if I am wrong.
  • Posted by jguest:

    Sounds more like a protective move. Keep the profitable test and measurement group safe...
    HP's having a lot of problems with HPUX 11.
  • Just name once company Hewlett and the other Packard?

    Daniel
  • Depends.... Their revinue may be dropping so fast that this doesn't matter.. Another factor to include is increased material fees (different offices, moving, etc). It could spell disaster for many employees.
  • I heard something interesting at dinner with friends of my Dad (he was in Hewlett-Packard's Medical Electronics division for decades): Word from the "old-timers" at HP is that HP would like to divest itself of the medical business. Supposedly HP got into the medical field because Bill Hewlett wanted it. As long as he's alive (maybe not much longer) they'll be in it, but once Bill Hewlett's gone, they'll try to sell HP Medical, since it's not making any real money for them anymore. The most likely buyer is some company in Sweden, I can't remember the name, or a company in Minneapolis. The HP old-timers said there's a push to emphasize the computer side of the business.
    If HP's computing stays in bed with Microsoft as much as they have, doing their best to kill Java, etc., I just don't see how this will work for HP as a strategy. They seem intent on becoming basically just another Wintel reseller, and I don't think that particular commodity market will give them the breathing room they need to survive. If HP decided to embrace Java -- in an honest way --they *could* transform themselves into a systems integrator for the Linux/Web Age par excellence. But then again, IBM may have beat them to it. I think Lew Platt, current CEO, has probably killed this once proud company by cutting a Faustian bargain with Microsoft. Hopefully SGI will learn from HP's experience...

  • Java is a buzzword with no substance behind it.

    There was a recent article posted on news.com about the Truth behind Sun. Sun themselves recognize how worthless Java is as a product, however it's buzzword potential is staggering.

    Sun's been going around bandying the word 'Java' to gain name recognition, and now that people know who they are, they're starting to sell hardware at a tremendous pace.

    I don't see how embracing Java would ever do anything for HP. I agree that they need to be innovative, but using some intelligence rather than buzzwords is what has made HP succeed over the years.

  • So which company will be making the calculators?
  • Pewlett Hackard? Nah, sounds more like a law firm.
  • eggs-acktly!

  • jump ship (Score:1)

    by id ( 11164 )
    Having worked for both T&M (Santa Rosa) and CSO (unix shop in FC) 5 yr total, I decided they were f*cked in the long haul, so I started looking. It took about a week to find a job that paid 15K more for the same work and with a big stock option signing bonus. It ain't quite as cozy as HP, but it will pay off in the long run. Plus in a smaller company you can see what you do effecting it, whereas inside hp you rarely see an individual make a diffrence.

    I have a lot of other issues with hp, but I won't bore you with a rant on that....
  • I haven't seen any problems with the computer division, but last year T&M came in about 40% under quota! Of course that's when I quit 5 months ago....

    T&M lost money because of asia's problems mostly, but they were still way behind in the US market.
  • I agree. 'Specially since I work for the
    Lightwave Division (in the Test and Measurement
    Organization). What's going to happen to the
    HP Way?
  • How fascinating!

    This is too perfect!

    I got my copy of the book "Open Sources" over the week end and was reading the whole thing yesterday. In the final chapter, ESR made a prediction that some UNIX companies are going to go, probably SCO or HP.

    It's sad to see it come true so soon.

    --
    Weiqi Gao (aka IIO) my sixth(?) post on /.
  • Building brand?

    That's the division which started HP, computers were a more recent sideline that got profitable.

    Too bad they're changing name, you say "HP" and I think "oscilliscope".
  • Actually, I've considered looking for a REALLY long time....this will just accelerate my search a bit. It's good to be with a company as they reach their peak...it's bad to stick around until the last shovel of dirt is in the grave...I can't imagine a resume ever recovering...

    I was also talking with some of my coworkers, and they all agree, this is a last ditch effort to basically save the company. Anyone have any ideas of other companies that have attempted a similar route and succeeded/failed?
  • Take a tiny company that starts in a garage, but is treated like Rolls Royce from day one. Run it for half a century as the darling of all its users, and the envy of all its competitors. See it grow steadily to a substantial size. Run it so well is survives the end of the cold war, when most instrumentation companies fell into chapter 11. Watch the misfortune of letting the company fall into the hands of incompetant management, and then LET THEM CHOOSE THEIR OWN SUCCESSORS.

    Why doesn't corporate America ever FIRE cretins in top jobs? How does this bunch of losers end up as winners, retiring comfortably, when the good guys loose their jobs with minimum payout packages?

    Why isn't Mr Platt already in possession of the customary two warning letters, saying his performance is inadequate?
  • HP makes great instruments. You never had to worry about them acting insane (old Keithley stuff was a nightmare). The GPIB interface always works like it was documented. The documents themselves are very thorough. I love using HP instruments, even though they are a little more expensive.

    Why does the computer part keep the name??? Who cares about HP computers? They can change that name, but HP means something with scientific and engineering equipment.
  • Or what. They are admitting that MS and the competitive pressures of the unix market need to have them slim down the company. Not a bad idea, really. The IPO idea is also a great way to raise cash.
  • DEC was acquired, not divested. *HUGE* difference. 180 out.

    buster

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