Meg Whitman is back in the corner office. Earlier today, she was officially named CEO of HP, taking over from Leo Apotheker, who lasted less than a year. In the video interview above, I talk to Forrester analyst Frank Gillett about whether Whitman is the best person for the job or the best one available on short notice.
Gillett and I get into HP’s recent strategy twists, including Apotheker’s decision to get out of the PC business and bail on the Palm acquisition. We discuss whether Whitman, who signed off on that strategy as a member of HP’s board, should stay the course or go back to square one? Personally, I thought they should have brought back Mark Hurd, who now works for Larry Ellison. (Hey, if the stock keeps tanking, maybe Oracle can buy HP and Hurd can make a comeback). → Read More
Research firm Forrester this morning announced its forecasts for the online retail industry in both the US and Western Europe this morning. No surprise: Forrester expects both markets to grow steadily over the next few years – not an unsafe bet by any means.
Forrester estimates that both US and European online retail (representing 17 Western European nations) will grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate from 2010 to 2015, reaching $279 billion and €134 billion, respectively, in 2015. → Read More
Forrester Research claims adoption of social networking continues to rise across the globe, while other forms of social interactions, such as content creation, experienced no substantial growth in the past twelve months.
Based on data from more than 275,000 consumers in Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America, the company has released a report dubbed “A Global Update Of Social Technographics”. → Read More
Online retail sales aren’t growing at the torrid pace they once were, but they continue to grow steadily. Forrester Research put out a new five-year forecast today predicting that e-commerce sales in the U.S. will keep growing at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate through 2014. It forecasts online retail sales in the U.S. will be nearly $250 billion, up from $155 billion in 2009. Last year, online retail sales were up 11 percent, compared to 2.5 percent for all retail sales.
Some other stats from the U.S. forecast: → Read More
For the technology industry, 2009 was a pretty tough year, but Forrester says the tech downturn is now ‘unofficially over’.
The research firm says the global technology industry will see an 8.1 percent increase in IT spending in 2010, with software and computer hardware leading the charge, and IT consulting services following.
After declining 8.2 percent last year, U.S. IT spending will grow 6.6 percent in 2010 to $568 billion, according to Forrester’s latest research report. Global tech spending, which dropped 8.9 percent in 2009, will rise to more than $1.6 trillion in 2010. → Read More
