# Hewlett Packard "a marginal company" WTF?! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215 "2005-02-09T16:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/1 "2005-02-09T16:27:32Z")
I was [reading this MSNBC story this](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6939785/) morning re the departure of the HP CEO and in the article was this little info bite. > [@](#): > > The announcement came after recent reports suggested the H-P board of directors had discussed shifting some day-to-day responsibilities from to other executives in an effort to improve the technology giant’s performance. > > In recent months, she has been the target of intensifying criticism from technology analysts and the media for her ambitious diversification strategy — an attempt to change H-P from a relatively marginal company that focused on printers and ink into a Silicon Valley consulting and computing powerhouse Wha…? A _marginal_ company? HP has been a large and significant computer company well before Carly Fiorina came onboard, and had presences in areas far beyond ink and printers like mini computers, instrumentation, advanced calcualtors, diagnostic equipment etc. Is the tech copy writer really that ignorant? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/2 "2005-02-09T16:33:03Z")
Well, isn’t that the problem with Fiorina? That she was very successfully making HP into a marginal company? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/3 "2005-02-09T17:00:26Z")
The innovative stuff like medical imaging, instrumentation and so forth was spun out into an entirely different company called Agilent a few years back. HP remained focused on computers and printers. The Compaq acquisition did nothing to help their market presence in the home computer market. Wasn’t exactly a brilliant move in the server world either. A few years ago, at least, Compaq’s ProLiant servers were well-regarded, and HP’s Kayaks were “meh” The inside word I get from people still clinging to their jobs at HP/Compaq is that Carly wanted Compaq solely for the Tandem servers, aka Non-Stop Himalayas. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/4 "2005-02-09T17:41:43Z")
“Marginal” in this instance refers to a company at the margins of the computer industry. Quick, the first thing that pops into your mind when I say HP is… I’ll bet you said “printers.” Don’t forget, at one time IBM was the world leader in personal computers. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/5 "2005-02-09T20:19:34Z")
I was reading the [Fortune article](http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,1026170,00.html) on HP yesterday after giving blood. What they said was that HP had nowhere near the results promised during the Compaq acquisition. The printer business is hugely profitable, the computer business just marginally profitable - in fact it might not be profitable at all, since some analysts say HP dumps costs onto the printter division to make the computer business look better. Plus, they screwed up their move to SAP a few quarters ago. This cost them sales. It would be embarassing to any company, but they sell consulting on how to do this right. :rolleyes: Also, there was a certain amount of good will built into the balance sheet, and this might have to be written off soon, which will cause a big loss. The reason is that there is belief that the value of a spun off printer company would be basically the value of HP today, leaving the market value of the computer company as basically zero. In essence, they gave away a big chunk of a valuable printer company to Compaq shareholders in return for a valueless computer company. My friends at Lucent, by the way, were happy to see her go. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/6 "2005-02-09T21:55:18Z")
[From CNN](http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/09/news/newsmakers/Fiorina_reaction/) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/7 "2005-02-09T22:04:06Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The innovative stuff like medical imaging, instrumentation and so forth was spun out into an entirely different company called Agilent a few years back. Why did they do this? I look at old HP catalogs and marvel at the great equipment they made. Sad. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/8 "2005-02-09T23:06:39Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Why did they do this? I look at old HP catalogs and marvel at the great equipment they made. Sad. ☹ From my friends at Agilent, it seems that Agilent has more of the old HP Way than HP. Carly visited places in her private jet with her horde of lackeys. The CEO of Agilent drove up in a rental car like a normal person. But why did they split? Because it was the hot thing to do, and to get the sexy computer stuff away from the boring old test and measurement stuff. Look how well divesting worked for AT&T. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/9 "2005-02-09T23:12:24Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Look how well divesting worked for AT&T. :rolleyes: I’m still pissed at AT&T for destroying NCR… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/10 "2005-02-09T23:24:18Z")
I know how you feel. My “everyday” calculator is an HP 15C. Agilent was started in 1999 as a result of corporate “realignment.” Agilent - formed from the HP business units Test and Measurement, Chemical Analysis, Healthcare Solutions, and Semiconductor Products - provides test and measurement solutions and communications components. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/11 "2005-02-10T01:26:13Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m still pissed at AT&T for destroying NCR… :mad: where were you during my pitting AT&T management thread? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/12 "2005-02-10T05:28:42Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Plus, they screwed up their move to SAP a few quarters ago. This cost them sales. It would be embarassing to any company, but they sell consulting on how to do this right. :rolleyes: Of course, if HP had actually used their SAP consultants to plan their SAP migration, it may have went a hell of a lot smoother. Whatever HP’s other problems are, their #1 current problem is that employee moral is through the floor, and Queen Carly is the root of their ire. Hopefully, getting rid of her will jump-start something. It all depends on what happens next. -lv ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/13 "2005-02-10T21:54:27Z")
Another [interesting article](http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2005/02/10/carly/) from Salon. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hewlett-packard-a-marginal-company-wtf/289215/14 "2005-02-10T22:01:26Z")
> [@LordVor](#): > > their #1 current problem is that employee moral is through the floor, and Queen Carly is the root of their ire. Hopefully, getting rid of her will jump-start something. My sources tell me they’re already running through the halls singing “Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!” I’d call that a step in the right direction. 😃