Looks like a bad week for Hewlett Packard:
Hewlett-Packard said today it would lay off 14,500 employees, almost 10 percent of its staff, in the next year and a half and freeze its pension plan for new and existing workers who have not vested in it yet.
Hewlett announced the highly anticipated program before the opening of the stock market in a bid to persuade investors that the struggling company finally has its house in order. The company, which hired Mark V. Hurd in March to replace Carleton S. Fiorina, said it would save $1.9 billion annually beginning in 2007 and half of the savings would be used to “offset market forces or reinvested in the business.”
Hewlett will dissolve its Customer Solutions Group, a business unit that sold to businesses and public entities, and distribute its work to the company’s three product groups. The company said it would protect employees in sales and research and development from the brunt of the layoffs, which will mostly affect support positions in information technology, human resources and finance.
Now I don’t want to kick someone when they are down, but I have thought HP computers were crap for about, well, forever now. I am surprised the company has lasted this long.
Johnson and Johnson, on the other hand, reported some good news:
Diversified health-care products company Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that second-quarter profit rose 9 percent on strong medical device and consumer product sales.
Quarterly income grew to $2.68 billion, or 89 cents per share, from $2.46 billion, or 82 cents per share, a year ago. Results included a $353 million charge, or 12 cents per share, for the company’s recent acquisitions of privately held biopharmaceutical company Peninsula Pharmaceuticals Inc., wound treatment product maker Closure Medical Corp. and TransForm Pharmaceuticals Inc. The company also repatriated about $225 million from abroad through the American Jobs Creation Act.
Without the one-time adjustments, the company posted earnings of $2.8 billion, or 93 cents per share.
Must be that legendary homosexual disposable income!
vianna
HP computers are indeed crap, but HP printers are still pretty much the corporate standard—at least in my part of the country (NE).
Marcus Wellby
The company said it would protect employees in sales and research and development
One would think if the company wasn’t doing well it would be because sales weren’t making deals and RD wasn’t coming up with solid product.
Any word yet on the CEO bonus? I am sure the layoffs will mean more money for that, it always does.
Mr Furious
I’ve had two HP laser printers over the years and loved them. But I’m a Mac guy so I never have to deal with any of those foul, inferior PC computers of any stripe…
Jay
I have told people for several years never to buy HP or Compaq computers, even though HP rocks at printers. It was the height of irony that the two crappy computer makers merged to become “bigger and better.”
I also thought Carly left on a much higher note and smelling much rosier than ought have been the case.
Guipo
I’ve worked with HP computer, and honestly, they are some of the best in the biz. I was a little worried when they merged with compaq, but they basically just made the compaq’s into HP’s. At my business, we are a all HP shop, and I can tell you that a few years ago, we had several models that were crap. Current models however proprietary they are, are very good. They are easy to work on, good speed, and just enough expandibility. There are alot of places like my business that are all HP shops too. Kinda gives you a idea why they are doing so well.
Guipo
jmh
I know when most people think of computers they think of personal computers. I would imagine that the personal computers make up a small fraction of HP’s total computer sales. They made really nice high end work stations and multiprocessor (16+ cups) servers. Also, like Guipo mentioned, they provide turnkey solutions. They were for many years a technology company and really took the lead in the development of printer technology. Again, not just the consumer Laserjet devices but also highend printers which serve many users simultaneously. However, after Mrs Fiorina took over, she ran off a lot of the talent and ran the company into the ground by focusing on things like HP branded iPods. Many old timers at HP really look down on the last few years.
Slartibartfast
It’s not that HP computers are crap, it’s that their skills at writing manuals are pretty much nonexistent. This is a mootish point where PCs are concerned, but I’m thinking a bit further back. If you’ve ever had to figure out how to read data from an HP-formatted disk using a computer you’ve never laid eyes on in your life, with only the HP manual as a reference, you’re in for a world of pain.
Their calculators, though, are things of light and beauty. Relative to other calculators, RPN notwithstanding.