HP announced this week that it is keeping its PC division, despite recent rumors to the contrary.
The company’s Personal System Group was the world’s leading manufacturer of personal computers for fiscal year 2010.
“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,” explained Meg Whitman, HP president and CEO, in a press release.
The decision followed a data-driven evaluation that indicated PSG’s deep integration across the supply chain, IT and procurement. “It also detailed the significant extent to which PSG contributes to HP’s solutions portfolio and overall brand value,” suggests the release. “Finally, it also showed that the cost to recreate these in a standalone company outweighed any benefits of separation.”
Forbes contributor John Furrier has been railing against HP getting rid of its PC division, citing its strong potential to “morph into smartphones, tablets, future laptops, etc.”
Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook hosted his first iPhone event since taking over the company reigns in August. The Hollywood Reporter provides some interesting insight into Cook’s personality and work ethic.
Cook has been with Apple since 1998. Until taking over for Steve Jobs as CEO, he expertly handled company logistics and operations, serving as Mr. Inside to Jobs’ Mr. Outside, suggest the article.
His 18-hour workdays are legendary, even amongst Apple employees. “Cook probably gets his stamina from being a fitness buff and is said to be a fan of cyclist Lance Armstrong,” comments THR.
Cook is said to be more personable than Jobs was in the position of CEO, taking more time to respond cordially and even with a tone of friendliness to customer emails.
Under Jobs, Apple didn’t have a corporate policy matching employees’ charitable donations, but Cook changed that and now Apple will match employee donations dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000.
Just after taking over the reigns at Hewlett-Packard last week, Meg Whitman spoke with Kara Swisher of All Things D about her initial plans regarding her new role.
As HP’s new CEO, Whitman plans to focus on four major issues: meeting Wall Street’s expectations for HP over the next 45 days, integrating HP’s $10 billion acquisition of Autonomy into the company, making a decision whether to keep or spin off the Personal Systems Group (which includes HP’s consumer PC business), and meeting and getting to know HP’s employees.
“I took this job, because HP really matters to Silicon Valley, to California, to this country and to the world,” said Whitman. “This is an icon and the place where the initial spark to create Silicon Valley came from and I am resolved to restore it to its rightful place… I have the skills to do that.”
Whitman takes over for former CEO Leo Apotheker. According to All Things D, “the troubled tech giant has had a lot of leaders — seven CEOs since 1999.”
This week’s Senate hearings on “The Power of Google: Serving Customers or Threatening Competition?” barely scratched the surface, suggests CNNMoney.
“What Google did to Apple — copying Apple’s touchscreen operating system and offering it to Apple’s competitors for free — never came up,” indicates the article. “Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) used much of their time to suck up to Google chairman Eric Schmidt, practically begging him to bring Google’s fiber-to-the-home experiment to their states.”
However, testimony from Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp, was compelling, especially in regards to his take on the search giant’s apparent new mission.
“Let’s be clear. Google is no longer in the business of sending users to the best sources of information on the Web,” explained Stoppelman. “It now hopes to become a destination site itself for one vertical market after another, including news, shopping, travel, and now, local business reviews. It would be one thing if these efforts were conducted on a level playing field, but the reality is they’re not.”
“The experience in my industry is telling,” he added. “Google forces review websites to provide their content for free to benefit Google’s own competing product, not consumers. Google then gives its own product preferential treatment in Google search results.”
Stoppelman suggested the company’s actions were essentially part of an ultimatum: “Google first began taking our content without permission a year ago. Despite public and private protests, Google gave the ultimatum that only a monopolist can give: In order to appear in Web search, you must allow us to use your content to compete against you. As everyone in this room knows, not being in Google is equivalent to not existing on the Internet. We had no choice.”
Twitter has announced that venture capitalists Bijan Sabet and Fred Wilson, two of the company’s earliest investors, will be leaving Twitter’s board of directors.
Additionally, Chief Scientist Abdur Chowdhury confirmed his departure, ironically enough, through his own Twitter account.
“So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. Twitter was an amazing experience & even greater set of people,” tweeted Chowdhury. (The first sentence is a reference to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” spoken by hyper-intelligent dolphins on their flight from the end of the world, reports VatorNews.)
The departures mark the latest in a series of related moves in what Vator refers to as a “mass exodus” that “reveals a leaky ship.”
Two of the company’s co-founders, Biz Stone and Evan Williams recently resigned from day-to-day operations (Williams remains on the board) and CTO Greg Pass left in May. Also, four product managers have reportedly been dismissed.
Other reports suggest the departure of the two directors may be less about a “leaky ship” and more about financial restructuring. “The person familiar with the matter said their departures were related to the reduction of their firms’ stakes in Twitter as part of a financing round in August,” reports The Wall Street Journal. Twitter recently announced it had raised a significant round of financing, putting the company’s worth at $8 billion.
Following Steve Jobs’ departure as CEO of Apple, The Daily Beast has published an insightful infographic that outlines what it sees as the “ten commandments” of Jobs’ business and creative philosophies.
The commandments range from “Be ruthless” and “Tap the experts” to “Shun focus groups” and “Prototype to the extreme.”
For example, Commandment 1: “Go for perfect — Jobs sweats the details. The night before the first iPod launched, the Apple staff stayed up all night replacing headphone jacks because Jobs didn’t think they were ‘clicky’ enough.”
ETCentric staffer Bob Lambert provided the following comments with this submission: “There are many, many tributes to the wisdom and business style of Steve Jobs these days. This one-page infographic is one of the best I’ve seen on the idealogy of the man and the company. What lesson on clear and focused thinking can we take from this?”
A study of Yahoo’s assets and performance conducted in the past two weeks has led independent directors to conclude a management change was needed. As a result, Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s CEO, was fired and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s CFO Tim Morse.
Yahoo’s interest in bidding for Hulu is expected to continue.
The company’s performance has been lackluster and characterized by missteps and high levels of executive turnover under Bartz, resulting in a flat stock price over 2 1/2 years, despite a 60 percent rise in the Nasdaq Composite Index.
“The board hasn’t hired an executive-search firm or financial advisers to help in a strategic review, but is expected to do so soon, said someone familiar with the matter,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “The strategic review isn’t expected to include an evaluation of whether Yahoo should be put up for sale, but will focus on so-called ‘organic’ growth, including the possibility of acquisitions or partnerships, the person added.”
Bartz wrote a memo to her employees Tuesday afternoon: “I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.”