What Happened to HP?

Back in the day, Hewlett Packard was the best known computer on the market and other computer makers strived to be exactly like them. Up until 2000, HP was certainly one of the leaders, but with the rise of Apple and other computer companies, HP started to rapidly decline. It is very evident that HP has quickly lost it ranking among the top computer makers on the market.

The PC Revolution Might be to Blame
Hewlett Packard has survived a variety of cultural and trend shifts when it comes to the technological world, but what they did not see coming was the PC Revolution. When the PC Revolution hit, HP was caught off guard and missed the revolution. They had rejected the makers of Apple when approached with their very products from the start, but this was only the beginning of their decline.

HP Announces Financial Trouble
When HP tried to pull the IBM card and sell their PC division to another company, it was already known very well that they were on a downward slope. Though IBM was able to do this successfully, this was now a time where the PC Revolution had not taken the industry by storm quite yet. Today, the attraction to the PC market is so strong that selling a company will catch much attention and not in a good way.

Selling their PC Division
HP recently announced that they will be selling the PC portion of their business, but by announcing this they have most likely ruined their chances of ever becoming the leader for business and personal users alike. After all, who would buy from a company that has announced they are selling their business? The risk factors alone for purchasing from a company that will be selling are deterrent enough considering:

• Customers may lose the support agreements that they signed when they purchased their PCs
• Corporate customers will be charged extra for corporate systems that will be obsolete
• Customer support will no longer be accessible for those who purchase the PCs

What about Printers?
HP has been manufacturing printers for quite some time. Originally the idea was to sell their printers and computers as one, but with HP announcing the sale of their PC division, what will happen to the printers? People won’t likely purchase printers from a company that no longer sells the computers to operate with them. Since there could be a significant compatibility issue down the road, buyers will simply purchase printers made by the same company as their PC, which means HP’s printer industry will start to feel the neglect soon enough.

Hewlett Packard has been slowly disappearing for quite some time and now it is more apparent than ever than the once largest computer manufacturer is now becoming obsolete. Smaller companies are starting to take the PC Revolution by storm and with HP slowly pulling out of the race, it is evident that there will not be much left of them in the distant future.

[Image via the-techbox]