New Chief Exec of HP Intends to Continue PC Spin-Off Strategy

From X-bit Labs: Wven though Hewlett-Packard’s board of directors essentially fired Leo Apotheker, the newly appointed chief executive Meg Whitman does not have plans to revert decisions made by her predecessor. At least, the PC decision and the intention to buy Autonomy are set to remain intact.

“It does not signal a change in the strategy. We are behind the actions that were taken on August 18. We are firmly committed to Autonomy. […] The board isn’t going to change the strategy and is going to continue down this path, which frankly was the fear,” said Meg Whitman during a conference call, reports BusinessWeek web-site.

It is widely believed that HP’s BoD fired Leo Apotheker for his “jarring” decisions in regards of personal systems groups and questionable decisions about other strategically important factors. However, Mrs. Whitman does not think about changing the direction of the company.

Meg Whitman is an ex-Ebay CEO; she joined Ebay in March, 1998, when it had staff of 30 and revenues of approximately $4 million. During her time as chief executive officer, the company grew to approximately 15 000 employees and $8 billion in annual revenue by 2008.

Mrs. Whitman does not have experience in hardware companies and is indeed a person known as a successful executive at a company aimed at consumers, not enterprises. She was a director of the board for eight months and she hardly knows the company from inside. It remains to be seen how successful she will be at HP and whether she does spin-off the PSG, which will be a turning point for HP.

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