Hewlett-Packard Company or
HP (styled as lower case on its official logo) is an American
multinationalinformation technology corporation headquartered in
Palo Alto,
California,
United States. It provides hardware, software and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses (
SMBs) and large enterprises, including customers in the government, health and education sectors.
The company was founded in a
one-car garage in Palo Alto by
William "Bill" Redington Hewlett and
Dave Packard. HP is the world's leading PC manufacturer and has been since 2007, fending off a challenge by Chinese manufacturer
Lenovo, according to Gartner.
[2] It specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software and a diverse range of printers and other imaging products. HP markets its products to households, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises directly as well as via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology vendors. HP also has services and consulting business around its products and partner products. In 2013 it was the
world's second-largest PC vendor by unit sales.
[3]
Hewlett-Packard company events have included the
spin-off of part of its business as
Agilent Technologies in 1999, its
merger with
Compaq in 2002, the sponsor of
Mission: Space in 2003, and the acquisition of
EDS in 2008, which led to combined revenues of $118.4 billion in 2008 and a
Fortune 500 ranking of 9 in 2009. In November 2009, HP announced the acquisition of
3Com,
[4] with the deal closing on April 12, 2010.
[5] On April 28, 2010, HP announced the buyout of
Palm, Inc. for $1.2 billion.
[6] On September 2, 2010, HP won its
bidding warfor
3PAR with a $33 a share offer ($2.07 billion), which
Dell declined to match.
[7]
History[edit]
Founding[edit]
Bill Hewlett [8] and
Dave Packard graduated with degrees in
electrical engineering from
Stanford University in 1935. The company originated in a
garage in nearby
Palo Alto during a fellowship they had with a past professor,
Frederick Terman at Stanford during the
Great Depression. Terman was considered a mentor to them in forming Hewlett-Packard.
[9] In 1939, Packard and Hewlett established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packard's garage with an initial capital investment of US$538.
[10]Hewlett and Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
[11] HP incorporated on August 18, 1947, and went public on November 6, 1957.
Of the many projects they worked on, their very first financially successful product was a precision audio
oscillator, the Model
HP200A. Their innovation was the use of a small incandescent
light bulb (known as a "pilot light") as a temperature dependent
resistor in a critical portion of the circuit, the negative feedback loop which stabilized the amplitude of the output sinusoidal waveform. This allowed them to sell the Model 200A for $54.40 when competitors were selling less stable oscillators for over $200. The Model 200 series of generators continued until at least 1972 as the 200AB, still tube-based but improved in design through the years.
Early years[edit]
1954 Hewlett-Packard logo
The company was originally rather unfocused, working on a wide range of electronic products for industry and even agriculture.
From the 1940s until well into the 1990s the company concentrated on making electronic test equipment:
signal generators,
voltmeters,
oscilloscopes,
frequency counters,
thermometers,
time standards, wave analyzers, and many other instruments. A distinguishing feature was pushing the limits of measurement range and accuracy; many HP instruments were more sensitive, accurate, and precise than other comparable equipment.
Following the pattern set by the company's first product, the 200A, test instruments were labelled with three to five digits followed by the letter "A". Improved versions went to suffixes "B" through "E". As the product range grew wider HP started using product designators starting with a letter for accessories, supplies, software, and components.
The 1960s[edit]
HP is recognized as the symbolic founder of
Silicon Valley, although it did not actively investigate semiconductor devices until a few years after the "
traitorous eight" had abandoned
William Shockley to create
Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. Hewlett-Packard's HP Associates division, established around 1960, developed semiconductor devices primarily for internal use. Instruments and calculators were some of the products using these devices.
HP partnered in the 1960s with Sony and the
Yokogawa Electric companies in Japan to develop several high-quality products. The products were not a huge success, as there were high costs in building HP-looking products in Japan. HP and Yokogawa formed a joint venture (Yokogawa-Hewlett-Packard) in 1963 to market HP products in Japan.
[12] HP bought Yokogawa Electric's share of Hewlett-Packard Japan in 1999.
[13]
HP spun off a small company, Dynac, to specialize in digital equipment. The name was picked so that the HP logo "hp" could be turned upside down to be a reverse reflect image of the logo "dy" of the new company. Eventually Dynac changed to Dymec, then was folded back into HP in 1959.
[14] HP experimented with using
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) minicomputers with its instruments, but after deciding that it would be easier to build another small design team than deal with DEC, HP entered the computer market in 1966 with the
HP 2100 /
HP 1000 series of minicomputers. These had a simple
accumulator-based design, with registers arranged somewhat similarly to the
Intel x86 architecture still used today. The series was produced for 20 years, in spite of several attempts to replace it, and was a forerunner of the
HP 9800 and
HP 250 series of desktop and business computers.
The 1970s[edit]
Hewlett-Packard logo, mid-1970s
The
HP 3000 was an advanced stack-based design for a business computing server, later redesigned with
RISC technology. The
HP 2640 series of smart and intelligent terminals introduced forms-based interfaces to
ASCII terminals, and also introduced
screen labeled function keys, now commonly used on gas pumps and bank ATMs. The
HP 2640 series included one of the first bit mapped graphics displays that when combined with the
HP 2100 21MX F-Series microcoded Scientific Instruction Set
[15] enabled the first commercial
WYSIWYG Presentation Program,
BRUNO that later became the program HP-Draw on the
HP 3000. Although scoffed at in the formative days of computing, HP would eventually surpass even IBM as the world's largest technology vendor, in terms of sales.
[16]
"The new
Hewlett-Packard 9100Apersonal computer is ready, willing, and able ... to relieve you of waiting to get on the big computer."
Although
Programma 101 was the first commercial "
desktop computer", HP is identified by
Wired magazine as the producer of the world's first device to be called a personal computer, the
Hewlett-Packard 9100A, introduced in 1968.
[17] HP called it a desktop calculator, because, as Bill Hewlett said, "If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an
IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared." An engineering triumph at the time, the logic circuit was produced without any
integrated circuits; the assembly of the CPU having been entirely executed in discrete components. With
CRT display, magnetic-card storage, and printer, the price was around $5,000. The machine's keyboard was a cross between that of a scientific calculator and an adding machine. There was no alphabetic keyboard.
The company earned global respect for a variety of products. They introduced the world's first
handheld scientific electroniccalculator in 1972 (the
HP-35), the first
handheld programmable in 1974 (the
HP-65), the first
alphanumeric, programmable, expandable in 1979 (the
HP-41C), and the first symbolic and graphing calculator, the
HP-28C. Like their scientific and business calculators, their
oscilloscopes,
logic analyzers, and other measurement instruments have a reputation for sturdiness and usability (the latter products are now part of spin-off
Agilent's product line). The company's design philosophy in this period was summarized as "design for the guy at the next bench".
[citation needed]
The
98x5 series of technical desktop computers started in 1975 with the 9815, and the cheaper 80 series, again of technical computers, started in 1979 with the 85.
[18] These machines used a version of the
BASIC programming language which was available immediately after they were switched on, and used a proprietary magnetic tape for storage. HP computers were similar in capabilities to the much later
IBM Personal Computer, although the limitations of available technology forced prices to be high.
[citation needed]
The 1980s[edit]
In 1984, HP introduced both
inkjet and
laser printers for the desktop. Along with its
scanner product line, these have later been developed into successful
multifunction products, the most significant being single-unit printer/scanner/copier/fax machines. The print mechanisms in HP's tremendously popular
LaserJet line of laser printers depend almost entirely on
Canon's components (print engines), which in turn use technology developed by
Xerox. HP develops the hardware, firmware, and software that convert data into dots for the mechanism to print.
[citation needed] HP transitioned from the
HP3000 to the
HP9000 series minicomputers with attached storage such as the
HP 7935 hard drive holding 404 MiB.
On March 3, 1986, HP registered the HP.com domain name, making it the
ninth Internet .com domain ever to be registered.
In 1987, the
Palo Alto garage where Hewlett and Packard started their business was designated as a California State historical landmark.
The 1990s[edit]
Hewlett-Packard logo used from 1981 to 2008
In the 1990s, HP expanded their computer product line, which initially had been targeted at university, research, and business users, to reach consumers.
Later in the decade, HP opened hpshopping.com as an independent subsidiary to sell online, direct to consumers; in 2005, the store was renamed "HP Home & Home Office Store."
From 1995 to 1998, Hewlett-Packard were sponsors of the English football team
Tottenham Hotspur.
In July 1999, HP appointed
Carly Fiorina as
CEO, the first female CEO of a company in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average. Fiorina served as CEO during the technology industry downturn of the early 2000s. During her tenure, the market value of HP halved and the company incurred heavy job losses.
[20] The HP Board of Directors asked Fiorina to step down in 2005, and she resigned on February 9, 2005.
The 2000s[edit]
iPAQ h4150 Pocket PC from 2003
iPAQ 112 Pocket PC from 2008
HP stock price since 2000.
On September 3, 2001, HP announced that an agreement had been reached with
Compaq to merge the two companies.
[21] In May, 2002, after passing a shareholder vote, HP officially merged with Compaq. Prior to this, plans had been in place to consolidate the companies' product teams and product lines.
[22]
In 1998, Compaq had already taken over Digital Equipment Corporation. HP therefore still offers support for the former Digital Equipment products PDP-11, VAX and AlphaServer.
The merger occurred after a proxy fight with Bill Hewlett's son Walter, who objected to the merger. Compaq itself had bought
Tandem Computers in 1997 (which had been started by ex-HP employees), and
Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998. Following this strategy, HP became a major player in
desktops, laptops, and servers for many different markets. After the merger with Compaq, the new
ticker symbol became "HPQ", a combination of the two previous symbols, "HWP" and "CPQ", to show the significance of the alliance and also key letters from the two companies
Hewlett-
Packard and Compa
q(the latter company being famous for its "Q" logo on all of its products.)
In 2004, HP released the DV 1000 Series, including the
HP Pavilion dv 1658 and 1040 two years later in May 2006, HP began its campaign,
The Computer is Personal Again. The campaign was designed to bring back the fact that the
PC is a personal product. The campaign utilized viral marketing, sophisticated visuals, and its own website (www.hp.com/personal). Some of the ads featured well-known personalities, including
Pharrell,
Petra Nemcova,
Mark Burnett,
Mark Cuban,
Alicia Keys,
Jay-Z,
Gwen Stefani, and
Shaun White.
[citation needed]
On May 13, 2008, HP and
Electronic Data Systems (EDS) announced
[23] that they had signed a definitive agreement under which HP would purchase EDS. On June 30, HP announced
[24] that the waiting period under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 had expired. "The transaction still requires EDS stockholder approval and regulatory clearance from the European Commission and other non-U.S. jurisdictions and is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the other closing conditions specified in the merger agreement." The agreement was finalized on August 26, 2008, and it was publicly announced that EDS would be re-branded "EDS an HP company." As of September 23, 2009, EDS is known as
HP Enterprise Services.
On November 11, 2009,
3Com and Hewlett-Packard announced that Hewlett-Packard would be acquiring 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash.
[25] The acquisition is one of the biggest in size among a series of takeovers and acquisitions by technology giants to push their way to become one-stop shops. Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2007, tech giants have constantly felt the pressure to expand beyond their current market niches.
Dell purchased
Perot Systems recently to invade into the technology consulting business area previously dominated by
IBM. Hewlett-Packard's latest move marked its incursion into enterprise networking gear market dominated by
Cisco.
The 2010s[edit]
On April 28, 2010,
Palm, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard announced that HP would be acquiring Palm for $1.2 billion in cash and debt,
[26] In the months leading up to the buyout, it was rumored that Palm was going to be purchased by either
HTC,
Dell,
RIM or HP. The addition of Palm handsets to the HP product line provided some overlap with the then current
iPAQ mobile products but was thought to significantly increase HP's mobile presence as those devices had not been selling well. The addition of Palm brought to HP a library of valuable patents as well as the mobile operating platform known as
webOS. On July 1, 2010, the acquisition of Palm was final.
[27] The purchase of
Palm, Inc.'s
webOS began a big gamble – to build HP's own ecosystem.
[28] On July 1, 2011, HP launched its first tablet named
HP TouchPad, bringing
webOS to tablet devices. On September 2, 2010, HP won its
bidding war for
3PAR with a $33 a share offer ($2.07 billion) which
Dell declined to match. Following HP's acquisition of Palm, it would phase out the
Compaq brand.
On August 6, 2010, CEO
Mark Hurd resigned amid controversy and
CFO Cathie Lesjak assumed the role of interim CEO. On September 30, 2010,
Léo Apotheker was named as HP's new CEO and President.
[29] In the HP resignation press release Mark Hurd made a comment which stated, "After a number of discussions with members of the board, I will move aside and the board will search for new leadership. This is a painful decision for me to make after five years at HP, but I believe it would be difficult for me to continue as an effective leader at HP and I believe this is the only decision the board and I could make at this time. I want to stress that this in no way reflects on the operating performance or financial integrity of HP.” Mark Hurd continued. “HP has an extremely talented executive team supported by a dedicated and customer focused work force. I expect that the company will continue to be successful in the future.”
[30]
Apotheker’s appointment sparked a strong reaction from
Oracle chief executive
Larry Ellison,
[31] who complained that Apotheker had been in charge of SAP when one of its subsidiaries was systematically stealing software from Oracle. SAP accepted that its subsidiary, which has now closed, illegally accessed Oracle intellectual property.
[32]
On August 18, 2011, HP announced that it would strategically exit the
smartphone and
tablet computer business, focusing on higher-margin "strategic priorities of Cloud, solutions and software with an emphasis on enterprise, commercial and government markets"
[33] They also contemplated spinning off their personal computer division into a separate company.
[34] HP's consideration of a fundamental restructuring to quit the 'PC' business, while continuing to sell servers and other equipment to business customers, would have been similar to what
IBM did in 2005.
[35] However, after a brief review, HP decided their PC division was too integrated and critical to business operations, and the company reaffirmed their commitment to the Personal Systems Group.
[36]
On September 22, 2011, Hewlett-Packard Co. named former
eBay Inc. Chief Executive
Meg Whitman its president and CEO, replacing Léo Apotheker, while
Raymond J. Lane became executive chairman of the company.
[37]
On March 21, 2012, HP said its printing and PC divisions would become one unit headed by Todd Bradley from the PC division. Printing chief Vyomesh Joshi is leaving the company.
[38]
On May 23, 2012, HP announced plans to lay off approximately 27,000 employees, after posting a profit decline of 31% in the second quarter of 2012.
[39] The profit decline is on account of the growing popularity of smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices, that has slowed the sale of personal computers.
[40]
On 30 May 2012, HP unveiled its first net zero energy data center. HP data center plans to use solar energy and other renewable sources instead of traditional power grids.
[41]
On July 10, 2012, HP's Server Monitoring Software was affected with a
Zero day vulnerability.
[42] A security warning has been given to the customers about the two vulnerabilities that has caused these catastrophe and administrators are asked to install the appropriate patches to resolve the vulnerabilities.
[43] One month later HP's official site of training center was hacked and defaced by Pakistani hacker known to as 'Hitcher' to demonstrate a vulnerability.
[44]
On September 10, 2012, HP revised their restructuring figures; they are now cutting 29,000 jobs. HP had already cut 3,800 jobs – around 7 percent of the revised 29,000 figure – as of July 2012.
[45]
On November 20, 2012, HP took a $8.8 billion writedown on the value of
Autonomy Corporation, acquired in 2011, and further claimed that Autonomy had misrepresented its finances prior to the HP buy out.
[46] HP has asked the authorities in the US and UK to investigate these matters, after an intense internal investigation, including a forensic review by Pricewaterhouse Cooper of Autonomy’s historical financial results, under the oversight of John Schultz, executive vice president and general counsel who led HP to believe that Autonomy was substantially overvalued at the time of its acquisition. This overvaluation was believed to be due to the misstatement of Autonomy’s financial performance, including its revenue, core growth rate, gross margins, and the misrepresentation of its business mix. Numerous examples of the accounting improprieties and misrepresentations were allegedly identified.
[47]
On December 31, 2013, HP revised 29,000 cutting jobs to 34,000 cutting jobs up to October 2014. The current cutting jobs until the end of 2013 was 24,600.
[48][49]At the end of 2013 the company had 317,500 employees. On May 22, 2014 HP announced it would cut a further 11,000 to 16,000 jobs, in addition to the 34,000 announced in 2013. "We are gradually shaping HP into a more nimble, lower-cost, more customer and partner-centric company that can successfully compete across a rapidly changing IT landscape," CEO Meg Whitman said at the time.
[50]
