Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Meg Whitman

CONFIRMED: HP Laying Off 27,000 People

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:07:38 +0000

Hewlett Packard is preparing to lay off 27,000 people, which is 8% of their global 325,000 person work-force. The cuts will happen by October 2014 so employees that are affected will have enough time to find new jobs. This is being called “multi-year restructuring.” Hewlett Packard is expecting that this would help make the company more innovative and cost effective. THe lay-off will include an early retirement program and a one-time charge of $1.8 billion. HP plans to continue investing in R&D, enterprise servers, software, etc.

“We are making progress in our multi-year effort to make HP simpler, more efficient and better for customers, employees, and shareholders,” stated HP CEO Meg Whitman. “This quarter we exceeded our previously provided outlook and are executing against our strategy, but we still have a lot of work to do.” HP also recently announced their quarterly earnings. Revenue for the second quarter was $30.7 billion, which is down 3% from a year ago, but is higher than what analysts were expecting.

HP To Restart Tablet Manufacturing

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:03:24 +0000

Hewlett-Packard has announced that they will start production of their consumer tablets again running on the Windows 8 operating system. This is the first time that HP has started producing tablets again since the company suspended the TouchPad webOS tablet. At the Global Influencer Summit 2012, HP CEO Meg Whitman said that restarting tablet production is a strategic move to capitalize on the growth of tablet sales. HP’s Windows 8 tablets will come with cloud-based technology.

The Sexual Harassment Letter That Got Mark Hurd Fired

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:43:25 +0000

This past August former HP CEO Mark Hurd stepped down from the company after he was caught sending a sexual harassment letter. Hurd had a personal relationship with contractor Jodie Fisher, who had worked at HP as a greeter and hostess at company events. Hurd currently works at Oracle Corporation as a co-president and Meg Whitman has replaced him at Hewlett Packard. AllThingsD got their hands on the letter that attorney Gloria Allred wrote to Hurd on behalf of Jodie Fisher. I have embedded the letter below.

“It is appalling that you would use HP revenues for the purpose of procuring female companionship and romance under the guise of HP business,” states the letter. However Oracle spokesperson Ken Glueck said that “This letter was recanted by Ms. Fisher. She admitted it was full of inaccuracies.”

Hurd started pursuing Fisher in 2007, but ended up backing off as she started to voice discomfort with the situation. Fisher was paid $30,000 to be a hostess at 6 HP events. In October 2007, Hurd and Fisher had dinner together after an HP event and he invited her up to his room. A distraught Fisher called her Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor to get advice before going up to Hurd’s room.

Fisher went up to Hurd’s room and insisted that they do not sleep together. She said “I barely know you and you are my boss.” Hurd sent Fisher a letter saying that he was “doing all the work” in their relationship, but Fisher said she was not interested in him romantically. Hurd kissed Fisher on the lips and walked away at one point. Below are the letters:
Allred Letter Redacted New

HP Making webOS Open Source

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:55:42 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) has decided to make webOS open source. HP plans to continue and will be active in the development of webOS, but the company is hoping that the community will help improve applications and web services for the next generation of devices.

“webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable,” stated HP president and CEO Meg Whitman. “By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.”

It appears that HP is taking a similar approach with webOS as Google did with Android. I am assuming that by making webOS open source, HP is hoping that other smartphone brands will bundle the operating system with their devices just like HTC and Samsung have been doing with Android.

Developers and customers are encouraged to provide their input at: http://developer.palm.com/blog/.

[HP Press Release]

HP’s Meg Whitman Deciding On Final WebOS Decision Today

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:06:55 +0000

According to PreCentral, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman will be calling an all-hands meeting later today to make a final decision on webOS. There are only about four possible scenarios coming out of this meeting: a.) webOS will be killed off b.) They will keep webOS and focus more on mobile development c.) Try to find another buy for Palm / webOS d.) Postpone the decision again. My guess is that HP spent so much time, energy, and money investing in webOS that they will not just kill it off. My best guess is that they will keep it, but may not focus as much on using webOS technology as they have in the past with the development of the TouchPad. I have a feeling that they will just keep it on the back-burner given that the company’s core business is still PC manufacturing and enterprise IT. [PreCentral]

Meg Whitman: HP’s Decision On webOS Will Be Within 2 Weeks

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:05:41 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman has done an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro. She said that HP’s decision on what to do with webOS software will be within two weeks.

Below is a quote from the newspaper:

What will you do with your operating system webOS?
We should announce our decision in the next two weeks. This is not an easy decision, because we have a team of 600 people which is in limbo. We need to have another operating system.

Whitman also acknowledged that if iPads count as PCs, then Apple would likely overtake HP as the top vendor of PCs. However she says that HP would retake the crown again in 2013. Whitman is currently in Europe for a corporate event in Vienna. HP had acquired the webOS parent company Palm for $1.2 billion in April 2010.

[AllThingsD]

Meg Whitman: “It’s Not Obvious Exactly What To Do Here” In Regards To WebOS

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:26:20 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Meg Whitman addressed concerns that Palm and HP employees about what to do with webOS. “It’s really important to me to make the right decision, not the fast decision,” said Whitman at a meeting on the HP campus. A decision is expected to be made in 3-4 weeks.

“If HP decides [to keep webOS], we’re going to do it in a very significant way over a multi-year period,” adding Whitman. “It’s a very expensive proposition, but HP can make that bet.”

Whitman said that she did not make a decision about WebOS yet because she first had to figure out what to do with HP’s PC business. Whitman also has to manage the acquisition of Autonomy. Whitman said that she understands that not having a final decision on webOS is “unsatisfying,” but the “economics of this business are tough.”

HP Is Keeping Its PC Division, But Will Stop webOS

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:55:55 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Leo Apotheker was replaced by Meg Whitman last month. One of the reasons why Apotheker resigned was because investors thought he was crazy for considering to spin off the company’s PC division. The board of directors at Hewlett Packard including Whitman has decided that they will be keeping their PC division.

However the company is still planning to shut down webOS division. HP decided to shut down webOS about a year and a half after the company bought Palm for $1.2 billion. Shutting down webOS means that about 500 people could lose their jobs. But if the company decided to shut down their PC division, then a lot more people would lose their jobs.

“HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees,” stated HP president and CEO Meg Whitman. “HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.”

Hewlett Packard currently has the biggest marketshare in the world with about 17.7% of the market. However the PSG is HP’s least profitable division in the company. There is also some speculation that Amazon.com may buy webOS.

[Guardian UK]

Zaarly Adds Meg Whitman To Board Of Directors

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:16:00 +0000

Zaarly is a mobile marketplace company that has added Hewlett Packard CEO Meg Whitman to their board of directors. Zaarly has also recently raised $14 million in an investment led by Kleiner Perkins. “I just love her,” stated Zaarly co-founder and CEO Bo Fishback in an interview with VentureBeat. “She built the biggest peer-to-peer marketplace on the planet Earth … I just know she’s going to make me a better CEO.”

Meg Whitman became CEO of eBay when the company had 30 employees. Today Zaarly also has 30 employees. Before joining HP as CEO, Whitman had an unsuccessful campaign for governor of California. Zaarly considers itself as the “mobile Craigslist.” Zaarly allows buyers to upload what they want and how much they are willing to pay for it. Zaarly users also give an amount of time that they need it.

At the time that Whitman became CEO, Fishback did not know what that meant for her as a board member. Fishback e-mailed Whitman after she became CEO of HP to find out what this meant for Zaarly. Within 20 minutes, Whitman said that she was canceling everything on her plate to focus on HP – except Zaarly.” Fishback also said that Whitman picks up all of his phone calls on Saturdays. Whitman is a strategic advisor at Kleiner Perkins so Fishback was able to get a meeting in with her after the company started to prepare for raising a round of funding.

For security purposes, Zaarly will require a verification option for users that want to prove that they are trustworthy. Zaarly will also have buyer and seller reviews.

Exit: Apotheker, Enter: Whitman

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:06:15 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO Leo Apotheker has resigned from the company and has been replaced by Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY). Below is an e-mail that Apotheker sent out to HP employees:

TO/ All HP Employees
FROM/ Léo Apotheker

Dear HP Employees:

This afternoon, HP issued a press release announcing my resignation as president and CEO, positions I have held with great honor this past year. Meg Whitman will assume the role of president and CEO.

As you know, Meg is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution and has served HP well as a member of the board for the past eight months. Meg will be supported by a broad and deep management team, and I have the utmost confidence that HP will succeed in executing its strategic evolution.

On a personal level, I cannot begin to express the admiration I have for all of you – and what you have accomplished together. Over the past year, we were tasked with developing a strategic vision for HP and I know we have made important contributions to the company’s future.

Your efforts on behalf of HP and your dedication to our customers have inspired me – and I am confident that HP has a bright future because of the talented people that come to work here every day. Thank you for your commitment to HP and for your dedication in serving HP’s customers and partners. It has been a tremendous honor and a pleasure to work with you here at HP.

Sincerely,

Léo Apotheker