Hewlett Packard Co announced second-quarter net income of $1.59 billion compared to $2.3 billion last year. Revenue was down 3% at $30.69 billion. Analysts said that the quarter was amazingly strong for HP. It appears that HP is regaining its footing.
The world’s No. 1 personal computer manufacturer intends to lay off about 27,000 workers during next two years. The company has over 300,000 employees on its pay roll all over the world. One third of the layoffs will be in the United States of America. The savings will be spent on research and development, particularly in PCs and printing.
Chief Executive Meg Whitman is a veteran Silicon Valley executive. She took the position last September. Meg Whitman said that both consumers as well as business leaders in Europe were worried about economy, which is adversely affecting HP’s business. She revealed that the company plans to launch tablets — for both corporations as well as consumers.
Earlier last year the company gave up its attempt to launch WebOS-based TouchPad tablet due to poor demand.
Meg Whitman disclosed that HP’s purchase of British software company Autonomy for more than $11 billion is fraught with challenges, and results are not as per HP’s expectations. Autonomy founder Mike Lynch will be replaced by Bill Veghte.
