HP has said it will keep its PC making division, the largest in the world, but has yet to make a decision on webOS.
In August, then-CEO Leo Apotheker announced a trio of major changes: spinning off or selling HP's Personal Systems Group, halting the production of webOS products such as the TouchPad tablet, and buying British software firm Autonomy.
Last month, HP replaced Apotheker with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who promised to re-examine the PSG decision.
“HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG," Whitman said. "It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees. HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.”
HP's review of such a sale suggested the PC arm was supported it's other areas of business and boosted the brand, and was too tightly integrated into the firm to easily spin-off.
Whitman told Business Week that spinning off PSG would have cost US$2.5 billion in one-off charges and $1.6 billion a year in ongoing costs that are currently saved by sharing back-end services across HP's different divisions.
“If you try to hive a division off, it’s really hard because you almost have to recreate the whole thing,” Whitman told the publication.
Analysts welcomed the announcement, but some wondered why it was such a difficult decision to make.
"Hopefully it's the beginning of showing they've got the process and people in place to work these things through," said Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett. "But it is puzzling that it was hard for them to figure out."
What about webOS?
The new CEO is yet to decide what to do with webOS. HP killed off its TouchPad tablet and Palm smartphones, selling off remaining devices at fire-sale prices.
"The question now before us is what do we do with webOS software and do we come back to market with webOS devices," Whitman said, according to Reuters. "It obviously will not be the same device but it will be version 2.0."
She did say that HP was working on a Windows 8 tablet.
This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk
