HP facing pressure to keep PC unit inside--report

From CNET News.com: Hewlett-Packard is facing pressure to keep its PC business inside the company according to an Asia-based report.

Growing concern about the fate of HP's PC unit is pushing "channel operators" to switch their orders from HP to brands such as Dell, Acer, and Lenovo, according to a report in Digitimes, citing sources.

The report names Acer as a major beneficiary of the shift.

HP's Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) partners, including Quanta Computer, Inventec, Wistron, and Foxconn Electronics, will "regain...confidence" in HP if it decides not to spin off its PC business, the report said.

Today in a conference call, HP Executive Chairman Ray Lane held out the possibility that the Personal Systems Group (PSG) would remain inside. "Our intent all along was to look at whether there was a benefit to investors or to customers...[But] if it cannot be stronger on the outside--delivering better equipment and technology than our competitors--it stays inside," he said.

And rivals in the U.S. are, not surprisingly, taking advantage of HP's vulnerability. "Dell and Lenovo have been going after it (HP's business). They are making a concerted effort to take advantage of the uncertainty," Bob O'Donnell, an IDC analyst, said on Wednesday in a phone interview. "Businesses are asking for RFPs (requests for proposal) from Dell and Lenovo, trying to figure out what other options they have," he added.

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