HP Reconsiders Spinning-Off PC Division, Personal Systems Group Will Remain Part Of The Company

HP caused a minor uproar when it announced just prior to Leo Apotheker’s departure that it was considering splitting off its PC division. Well, after two months of internal debating, the Personal Systems Group will remain part of the company and Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard can rest in peace.

The news comes from a just-issued press release where HP’s new chief MG Whitman indicated that it’s best for customers, partners, shareholders and employees (so everyone) to keep the PSG within HP. She goes on to say that “HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.”

The announcement in August came as a shock. As detailed in today’s press release, HP is currently the number one manufacturer of personal computers in the world and saw $40.7 billion in revenues last year. HP has always been a hardware company first and the thought upon review of then-CEO Leo Apotheker was that HP was headed down a route to services and enterprise. But a few short weeks after the announcement which also killed off webOS hardware development, HP’s board ousted Apotheker who was replaced by Meg Whitman.

Now that the Personal Systems Group is staying part of HP, the board of directors feels that it can “drive profitable growth” and assist other parts of HP’s business. Members of the PSG should start feeling the love again as HP stated that the PSG is part of HP’s strategy to consumers and enterprise customers alike. I bet they felt a different feeling the last two months.