Product Code Database
The company was founded in a one-car garage in Palo Alto by William "Bill" Redington Hewlett and David "Dave" Packard starting with a line of electronic test equipment. HP was the world's leading PC manufacturer from 2007 to Q2 2013, after which Lenovo remained ranked ahead of HP. Lenovo Shares Jump As PC Shipments Overtake HP. 7/11/2013 It specializes in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software and delivering services. Major product lines include personal computing devices, enterprise and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software and a diverse range of printers and other imaging products. HP markets its products to households, small- to medium-sized businesses and enterprises directly as well as via online distribution, consumer-electronics and office-supply retailers, software partners and major technology vendors. HP also has services and consulting business around its products and partner products.
Hewlett-Packard company events have included the spin-off of its electronic and bio-analytical measurement instruments part of its business as Agilent Technologies in 1999, its merger with Compaq in 2002, the sponsor of in 2003, and the acquisition of EDS in 2008, which led to combined revenues of $118.4 billion in 2008 and a Fortune 500 ranking of 9 in 2009. In November 2009, HP announced the acquisition of 3Com, with the deal closing on April 12, 2010. On April 28, 2010, HP announced the buyout of Palm, Inc. for $1.2 billion. On September 2, 2010, HP won its bidding war for 3PAR with a $33 a share offer ($2.07 billion), which Dell declined to match.
On October 6, 2014, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to split the PC and printers business from its enterprise products and services business. The split is expected to close by October 2015 and will result in two publicly traded companies: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and HP, Inc.
Of the many projects they worked on, their very first financially successful product was a precision audio oscillator, the Model HP200A. Their innovation was the use of a small incandescent light bulb (known as a "pilot light") as a temperature dependent resistor in a critical portion of the circuit, the negative feedback loop which stabilized the amplitude of the output sinusoidal waveform. This allowed them to sell the Model 200A for $54.40 when competitors were selling less stable oscillators for over $200. The Model 200 series of generators continued until at least 1972 as the 200AB, still tube-based but improved in design through the years.
One of the company's earliest customers was Walt Disney Productions which bought eight Model 200B oscillators (at $71.50 each) for use in certifying the Fantasound surround sound systems installed in theaters for the movie Fantasia.
HP partnered in the 1960s with Sony and the Yokogawa Electric companies in Japan to develop several high-quality products. The products were not a huge success, as there were high costs in building HP-looking products in Japan. HP and Yokogawa formed a joint venture (Yokogawa-Hewlett-Packard) in 1963 to market HP products in Japan. HP bought Yokogawa Electric's share of Hewlett-Packard Japan in 1999.
HP spun off a small company, Dynac, to specialize in digital equipment. The name was picked so that the HP logo "hp" could be turned upside down to be a reverse reflect image of the logo "dy" of the new company. Eventually Dynac changed to Dymec, then was folded back into HP in 1959. HP experimented with using Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) minicomputers with its instruments, but after deciding that it would be easier to build another small design team than deal with DEC, HP entered the computer market in 1966 with the HP 2100 / HP 1000 series of minicomputers. These had a simple accumulator-based design, with registers arranged somewhat similarly to the Intel x86 architecture still used today. The series was produced for 20 years, in spite of several attempts to replace it, and was a forerunner of the HP 9800 and HP 250 series of desktop and business computers.
Although Programma 101 was the first commercial "desktop computer", HP is identified by Wired magazine as the producer of the world's first device to be called a personal computer, the Hewlett-Packard 9100A, introduced in 1968. HP called it a desktop calculator, because, as Bill Hewlett said, "If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared." An engineering triumph at the time, the logic circuit was produced without any integrated circuits; the assembly of the CPU having been entirely executed in discrete components. With CRT display, magnetic-card storage, and printer, the price was around $5,000. The machine's keyboard was a cross between that of a scientific calculator and an adding machine. There was no alphabetic keyboard.
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, originally designed the Apple I computer while working at HP and offered it to them under their right of first refusal to his work, but they did not take it up as the company wanted to stay in scientific, business, and industrial markets. Wozniak said that HP "turned him down 5 times." Wozniak said his loyalty to HP made him hesitant to start Apple with Steve Jobs.
The company earned global respect for a variety of products. They introduced the world's first handheld scientific electronic calculator in 1972 (the HP-35), the first handheld programmable in 1974 (the HP-65), the first alphanumeric, programmable, expandable in 1979 (the ), and the first symbolic and graphing calculator, the HP-28C. Like their scientific and business calculators, their , , and other measurement instruments have a reputation for sturdiness and usability (the latter products are now part of spin-off Agilent's product line). The company's design philosophy in this period was summarized as "design for the guy at the next bench".
The 98x5 series of technical desktop computers started in 1975 with the 9815, and the cheaper 80 series, again of technical computers, started in 1979 with the 85. These machines used a version of the BASIC programming language which was available immediately after they were switched on, and used a proprietary magnetic tape for storage. HP computers were similar in capabilities to the much later IBM Personal Computer, although the limitations of available technology forced prices to be high.
On March 3, 1986, HP registered the HP.com domain name, making it the ninth Internet .com domain ever to be registered.
In 1987, the Palo Alto garage where Hewlett and Packard started their business was designated as a California State historical landmark.
HP also grew through acquisitions, buying Apollo Computer in 1989 and Convex Computer in 1995.
Later in the decade, HP opened hpshopping.com as an independent subsidiary to sell online, direct to consumers; in 2005, the store was renamed "HP Home & Home Office Store."
From 1995 to 1998, Hewlett-Packard were sponsors of the English football team Tottenham Hotspur.
In 1999, all of the businesses not related to computers, storage, and imaging were spun off from HP to form Agilent Technologies. Agilent's spin-off was the largest initial public offering in the history of Silicon Valley.Arensman, Russ. "Unfinished business: managing one of the biggest spin-offs in corporate history would be a challenge even in the best of times. But what Agilent's Ned Barnholt got was the worst of times. (Cover Story)." Electronic Business 28.10 (October 2002): 36(6). The spin-off created an $8 billion company with about 30,000 employees, manufacturing scientific instruments, , optical networking devices, and electronic test equipment for telecom and wireless R&D and production.
In July 1999, HP appointed Carly Fiorina as CEO, the first female CEO of a company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Fiorina served as CEO during the technology industry downturn of the early 2000s. During her tenure, the market value of HP halved and the company incurred heavy job losses.HP's share price moved from 45.36 to 20.14 during Fiorina's leadership, a performance of −56% (share price data from Bloomberg); the market as a whole, as measured by the benchmark Values Dow Jones U.S. Large Cap Technology Index, fell by 51% between July 19, 1999 and February 9, 2005. The HP Board of Directors asked Fiorina to step down in 2005, and she resigned on February 9, 2005.
In 1998, Compaq had already taken over Digital Equipment Corporation. HP therefore still offers support for the former Digital Equipment products PDP-11, VAX and AlphaServer.
The merger occurred after a proxy fight with Bill Hewlett's son Walter, who objected to the merger. Compaq itself had bought Tandem Computers in 1997 (which had been started by ex-HP employees), and Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998. Following this strategy, HP became a major player in desktops, laptops, and servers for many different markets. After the merger with Compaq, the new ticker symbol became "HPQ", a combination of the two previous symbols, "HWP" and "CPQ", to show the significance of the alliance and also key letters from the two companies Hewlett- Packard and Compa q (the latter company being famous for its "Q" logo on all of its products.)
In 2004, HP released the DV 1000 Series, including the HP Pavilion dv 1658 and 1040 two years later in May 2006, HP began its campaign, The Computer is Personal Again. The campaign was designed to bring back the fact that the PC is a personal product. The campaign utilized viral marketing, sophisticated visuals, and its own website (www.hp.com/personal). Some of the ads featured Pharrell, Petra Nemcova, Mark Burnett, Mark Cuban, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, and Shaun White.
On May 13, 2008, HP and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) announced that they had signed a definitive agreement under which HP would purchase EDS. On June 30, HP announced that the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 had expired. "The transaction still requires EDS stockholder approval and regulatory clearance from the European Commission and other non-U.S. jurisdictions and is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the other closing conditions specified in the merger agreement." The agreement was finalized on August 26, 2008, and it was publicly announced that EDS would be re-branded "EDS an HP company." As of September 23, 2009, EDS is known as HP Enterprise Services.
On November 11, 2009, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard announced that Hewlett-Packard would be acquiring 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash. The acquisition is one of the biggest in size among a series of takeovers and acquisitions by technology giants to push their way to become one-stop shops. Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2007, tech giants have constantly felt the pressure to expand beyond their current market niches. Dell purchased Perot Systems recently to invade into the technology consulting business area previously dominated by IBM. Hewlett-Packard's latest move marked its incursion into enterprise networking gear market dominated by Cisco.
On August 6, 2010, CEO Mark Hurd resigned amid controversy and CFO Cathie Lesjak assumed the role of interim CEO. Hurd had turned HP around and was widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley's star CEOs, but was accused of sexual harassment against a colleague. Although the allegations were deemed baseless, the investigation led to questions concerning between $1000 and $20000 of his private expenses and his lack of disclosure related to the friendship. Some observers have argued that Hurd was innocent, but the board asked for his resignation to avoid negative PR. Public analysis was divided between those who saw it as a commendable tough action by HP in handling expenses irregularities, and those who saw it as an ill-advised, hasty and expensive reaction, in ousting a remarkably capable leader who had turned the business around.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/technology/10hp.html Shares of HP dropped by 8.4% in after-hours trading, hitting a 52-week low with $9 billion in market capitalization shaved off. Larry Ellison publicly attacked HP's board for his ousting.
On September 30, 2010, Léo Apotheker was named as HP's new CEO and President. Apotheker's appointment sparked a strong reaction from Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison, who complained that Apotheker had been in charge of SAP when one of its subsidiaries was systematically stealing software from Oracle. SAP accepted that its subsidiary, which has now closed, illegally accessed Oracle intellectual property. Following Hurd's departure, HP was seen by the market as problematic, with margins falling and having failed to redirect and establish itself in major new markets such as cloud and mobile services. Apotheker's strategy was broadly to aim at disposing of hardware and moving into the more profitable software services sector. On August 18, 2011, HP announced that it would strategically exit the smartphone and tablet computer business, focusing on higher-margin "strategic priorities of Cloud, solutions and software with an emphasis on enterprise, commercial and government markets" They also contemplated selling off their personal computer division or spinning it off into a separate company, quitting the 'PC' business, while continuing to sell servers and other equipment to business customers, was a strategy already undertaken by IBM in 2005.
HP's stock continued to drop, by about a further 40% (including 25% on one day, 19 August 2011), after the company abruptly announced a number of decisions: to discontinue its webOS device business (mobile phones and tablet computers), the intent to sell its personal computer division (at the time HP was the largest personal computer manufacturer in the world), and to acquire British big data software firm Autonomy for a 79% premium, seen externally as an "absurdly high" price for a business with known concerns over its accounts. Media analysts described HP's actions as a "botched strategy shift" and a "chaotic" attempt to rapidly reposition HP and enhance earnings that ultimately cost Apotheker his job. Why Hewlett-Packard's Impulse Buy Didn't Pay Off, Bloomberg BusinessWeek 29 November 2012: "Apotheker believed that HP's platform was sinking...and appeared to be in a hurry to transform the company... In a rapid series of moves announced in August 2011, Apotheker killed HP's six-week-old TouchPad tablet, explored plans for a spin-out of its PC business, and championed the $10.3 billion acquisition of Autonomy. One former HP executive who worked there at the time says it appeared that Apotheker and the board didn't know what to do, and were trying anything they could think of. It wasn't a strategy, he says. It was chaos... Oracle CEO Larry Ellison called Autonomy's asking price 'absurdly high'." HP closes Autonomy deal, Reuters, 2011-11-03: "Hewlett-Packard completed its $12 billion buy of British software firm Autonomy on Monday, the centerpiece of a botched strategy shift that cost ex-chief executive Leo Apotheker his job last month. HP said its 25.50 pounds-per-share cash offer -- representing a 79 percent premium that many HP shareholders found excessive -- had been accepted by investors." The Autonomy acquisition had been objected to even by HP's own CFO.
On September 22, 2011, the HP Board of Directors fired Apotheker as chief executive, effective immediately, and replaced him with fellow board member and former eBay chief Meg Whitman, with Raymond J. Lane as executive chairman. Though Apotheker served barely ten months, he received over $13 million in compensation. New Hewlett-Packard chief Meg Whitman gets $1 salary, Leo Apotheker gets $13m, The Australian, sept. 30 2011 HP lost more than $30 billion in market capitalization during his tenure. Weeks later, HP announced that a review had concluded their PC division was too integrated and critical to business operations, and the company reaffirmed their commitment to the Personal Systems Group. A year later in November 2012 wrote-down almost $9 billion related to the Autonomy acquisition (see below: Takeover of Autonomy), which became the subject of intense litigation as HP accused Autonomy's previous management of fraudulently exaggerating Autonomy's financial position and called in law enforcement and regulators in both countries, and Autonomy's previous management accused HP of "textbook" obfuscation and finger pointing to protect HP's executives from criticism and conceal HP culpability, their prior knowledge of Autonomy's financial position, and gross mismanagement of Autonomy after acquisition. Motion by Hussain, 2014-08-11 p.1-6
On March 21, 2012, HP said its printing and PC divisions would become one unit headed by Todd Bradley from the PC division. Printing chief Vyomesh Joshi is leaving the company.
On May 23, 2012, HP announced plans to lay off approximately 27,000 employees, after posting a profit decline of 31% in the second quarter of 2012. The profit decline is on account of the growing popularity of smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices, that has slowed the sale of personal computers.
On May 30, 2012, HP unveiled its first net zero energy data center. HP data center plans to use solar energy and other renewable sources instead of traditional power grids.
On July 10, 2012, HP's Server Monitoring Software was discovered to have a previously unknown security vulnerability. A security warning was given to customers about two vulnerabilities, and a patch released. One month later HP's official site of training center was hacked and defaced by a Pakistani hacker known to as 'Hitcher' to demonstrate a web vulnerability.
On September 10, 2012, HP revised their restructuring figures; they are now cutting 29,000 jobs. HP had already cut 3,800 jobs – around 7 percent of the revised 29,000 figure – as of July 2012.
On December 31, 2013, HP revised the amount of jobs cut from 29,000 to 34,000 up to October 2014. The current amount of jobs cut until the end of 2013 was 24,600. 31 Dec 2013: "Hewlett-Packard to cut 5,000 more jobs" G M At the end of 2013 the company had 317,500 employees. On May 22, 2014 HP announced it would cut a further 11,000 to 16,000 jobs, in addition to the 34,000 announced in 2013. "We are gradually shaping HP into a more nimble, lower-cost, more customer and partner-centric company that can successfully compete across a rapidly changing IT landscape," CEO Meg Whitman said at the time.
In June 2014, during the HP Discover customer event in Las Vegas, Meg Whitman and Martin Fink announced a project for a radically new computer architecture called The Machine. Based on and silicon photonics, The Machine is supposed to come in commercialization before the end of the decade, meanwhile representing 75% of the research activity in HP Labs.
On October 6, 2014, Hewlett Packard announced it was planning to break into two separate companies, separating its personal-computer and printer businesses from its technology services. The split, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by other media, will result in two publicly traded companies: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and HP, Inc. Meg Whitman will serve as chairman of HP, Inc. and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Patricia Russo will be chairman of the enterprise business, and Dion Weisler will be CEO of HP, Inc. The split is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2015, in October 2015.
On October 29, 2014, Hewlett-Packard announced their new Sprout personal computer.
It also has large operations in Austin, Texas, Boise, Idaho; Roseville, California; Fort Collins, Colorado; Vancouver, Washington; San Diego; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Plano, Texas (the former headquarters of EDS, which HP acquired). In the UK, HP is based at a large site in Bracknell, Berkshire with offices in various UK locations, including a landmark office tower in London, 88 Wood Street. Its recent acquisition of 3Com will expand its employee base to Marlborough, Massachusetts. The company also has a large workforce and numerous offices at Bangalore, India, to address their back end and IT operations. MphasiS, which is headquartered at Bangalore, also enabled HP to increase their footprint in the city as it was a subsidiary of EDS which the company acquired.
HP's Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) is "the leading imaging and printing systems provider in the world for printer hardware, printing supplies and scanning devices, providing solutions across customer segments from individual consumers to small and medium businesses to large enterprises".
On December 23, 2008, HP released iPrint Photo for iPhone, a free downloadable software application that allows the printing of 4" x 6" photos. The HP iPrint Photo. Hp.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-26.
HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG) claims to be "one of the leading vendors of personal computers ("PCs") in the world based on unit volume shipped and annual revenue." PSG deals with:
HP resold the Apple iPod until November 2005.
HP Enterprise Business (EB) incorporates HP Technology Services, Enterprise Services (an amalgamation of the former EDS, and what was known as HP Services), HP Enterprise Security Services oversees professional services such as network security, information security and information assurance/ compliancy, HP Software Division, and Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking Group (ESSN). The Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking Group (ESSN) oversees "back end" products like storage and servers. HP Networking (former ProCurve) is responsible for the NW family of products. They are a business unit of ESSN.
HP Software Division is the company's enterprise software unit. For years, HP has produced and marketed its brand of enterprise-management software, HP OpenView. From September 2005 HP purchased several software companies as part of a publicized, deliberate strategy to augment its software offerings for large business customers. HP Software sells several categories of software, including:
HP Software also provides software as a service (SaaS), cloud computing solutions, and software services, including consulting, education, professional services, and support.
HP's Office of Strategy and Technology has four main functions:
Under the Office of Strategy and Technology comes HP Labs, the research arm of HP. Founded in 1966, HP Labs aims to deliver new technologies and to create business opportunities that go beyond HP's current strategies. Examples of recent HP Labs technology includes the Memory spot chip of 2006. HP IdeaLab further provides a web forum on early-state innovations to encourage open feedback from consumers and the development community.
HP also offers managed services by which they provide complete IT-support solutions for other companies and organizations. Some examples of these include:
- We have trust and respect for individuals.
- We focus on a high level of achievement and contribution.
- We conduct our business with uncompromising integrity.
- We achieve our common objectives through teamwork.
- We encourage flexibility and innovation.
In 2008, HP released its supply chain emissions data — an industry first.
In September 2009, Newsweek ranked HP No. 1 on its 2009 Green Rankings of America's 500 largest corporations. According to environmentalleader.com, "Hewlett-Packard earned its number one position due to its greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction programs, and was the first major IT company to report GHG emissions associated with its supply chain, according to the ranking. In addition, HP has made an effort to remove toxic substances from its products, though Greenpeace has targeted the company for not doing better."
HP took the top spot on Corporate Responsibility Magazines 100 Best Corporate Citizens List for 2010. "CR's 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2010". theCRO.com. CRO Corp. Retrieved June 1, 2010. The list is cited by PR Week as one of America's most important business rankings. HP beat out other Russell 1000 Index companies because of its leadership in seven categories including environment, climate changes and corporate philanthropy. In 2009, HP was ranked fifth.Coster, Helen (March 3, 2010). "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens". Forbes.com. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
Fortune magazine named HP one of the World's Most Admired Companies in 2010, placing it No. 2 in the computer industry and No. 32 overall in its list of the top 50. This year in the computer industry HP was ranked No. 1 in social responsibility, long-term investment, global competitiveness, and use of corporate assets. "World's Most Admired Companies 2010: Hewlett-Packard snapshot". FORTUNE on CNNMoney.com. March 22, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
In May 2011, HP released a Global Responsibility report covering accomplishments during 2010. The report, the company's tenth, provides a comprehensive view of HP's global citizenship programs, performance, and goals and describes how HP uses its technology, influence, and expertise to make a positive impact on the world. The company's 2009 report won best corporate responsibility report of the year. The 2009 reports claims HP decreased its total energy use by 9 percent compared with 2008. HP recovered a total of 118,000 tonnes of electronic products and supplies for recycling in 2009, including 61 million print cartridges.
In an April 2010 San Francisco Chronicle article, HP was one of 12 companies commended for "designing products to be safe from the start, following the principles of green chemistry." The commendations came from Environment California, an environmental advocacy group, who praised select companies in the Golden State and the Bay Area for their efforts to keep our planet clean and green.Ross, Andrew S. (April 16, 2010). "State firms praised for purging toxic chemicals". San Francisco Chronicle.
In May 2010, HP was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute. This is the second year in a row HP has made the list. Ethisphere reviewed, researched and analyzed thousands of nominations in more than 100 countries and 35 industries to create the 2010 list. HP was one of only 100 companies to earn the distinction of top winner and was the only computer hardware vendor to be recognized. Ethisphere honors firms that promote ethical business standards and practices by going beyond legal minimums, introducing innovative ideas that benefit the public. "2010 World's Most Ethical Companies. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
HP is listed in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics that ranks electronics manufacturers according to their policies on sustainability, energy and climate and green products. In November 2011, HP secured the 1st place (out of 15) in this ranking (climbing up 3 places) with an increased score of 5.9 (up from 5.5). It scored most points on the new Sustainable Operations criteria, having the best program for measuring and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from its suppliers and scoring maximum points for its thorough paper procurement policy. In the November 2012 report, HP was ranked second, with a score of 5.7.
HP does especially well for its disclosure of externally verified greenhouse gas emissions and its setting of targets for reducing them. However, Greenpeace reports that HP risks a penalty point in future editions due to the fact that it is a member of trade associations that have commented against energy efficiency standards.
HP has earned recognition of its work in the area of data privacy and security. In 2010 the company ranked No. 4 in the Ponemon Institute's annual study of the most trusted companies for privacy. Since 2006, HP has worked directly with the U.S. Congress, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Commerce to establish a new strategy for federal legislation. HP played a key role in work toward the December 2010 FTC report "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change."
After winning nine straight annual "Most Respected Company in China" awards from the Economic Observer and Peking University, HP China has added the "10 Year Contribution" award to its list of accolades. The award aims to identify companies doing business in China with outstanding and sustained performance in business operations, development and corporate social responsibility.
In its 2012 rankings of consumer electronics companies on progress relating to conflict minerals, the Enough Project rated HP second out of 24 companies, calling it a "Pioneer of progress".
HP has many sponsorships. One well known sponsorship is of Walt Disney World's Epcot Park's . From 1995 to 1999, and again from 2013, HP has been the shirt sponsor of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C. From 1997 to 1999 they were sponsors of Australian Football League club North Melbourne Football Club. They also sponsored the BMW Williams Formula 1 team until 2005 (a sponsorship formerly held by Compaq), and as of 2010 sponsor Renault F1. Hewlett-Packard also had the naming rights arrangement for the HP Pavilion at San Jose, home of the San Jose Sharks NHL hockey team until 2013, in which the arena's naming rights were acquired by SAP AG, renaming the arena to the SAP Center at San Jose.
After the acquisition of Compaq in 2002, HP has maintained the "Compaq Presario" brand on low-end home desktops and laptops, the "HP Compaq" brand on business desktops and laptops, and the "HP ProLiant" brand on Intel-architecture servers. (The "HP Pavilion" brand is used on home entertainment laptops and all home desktops.)
Tandem's "NonStop" servers are now branded as "HP Integrity NonStop".
The HP Discover 2011 event in EMEA took place in Vienna, Austria, on November 29 through December 1, 2011.
On August 1, 2012, HP released the following statement after winning the court ruling in Itanium Litigation:
The Court ordered and declared as follows:
Autonomy specialized in analysis of large scale unstructured "big data", and by 2010 also the UK's largest and most successful Autonomy board backs £7bn Hewlett-Packard offer, The Telegraph, August 19, 2011 software business. It maintained an aggressively entrepreneurial marketing approach, and controls described as a "rod of iron", which was said to include zero tolerance and firing the weakest 5% of its sales force each quarter, while the best sales staff "like rock stars". Rage of the Titans: Whitman vs Lynch, The Telegraph, November 25, 2012
At the time, HP had fired its previous CEO for expenses irregularities a year ago, and appointed Léo Apotheker as CEO and President. HP was seen as problematic by the market, with margins falling and having failed to redirect and establish itself in major new markets such as cloud and mobile services. Apotheker's strategy was to aim at disposing of hardware and moving into the more profitable software services sector.
As part of this strategy, Autonomy was acquired by HP in October 2011. HP paid $10.3 billion for 87.3% of the shares, valuing Autonomy at around $11.7 billion (£7.4 billion) overall, a premium of around 79% over market price. The deal was widely criticized as "absurdly high", a "botched strategy shift" and a "chaotic" attempt to rapidly reposition HP and enhance earnings, and had been objected to even by HP's own CFO. Within a year, Apotheker himself had been fired, major culture clashes became apparent and HP had written off $8.8 billion of Autonomy's value.
HP claim this resulted from "accounting improprieties, and disclosure failures" by the previous management, who in turn accuse HP of a "textbook example of defensive stalling" to conceal evidence of its own prior knowledge and gross mismanagement and undermining of the company, noting public awareness since 2009 of its financial reporting issues and that even HP's CFO disagreed with the price paid. External observers generally state that only a small part of the write-off appears to be due to accounting mis-statements, and that HP had overpaid for businesses previously. The mysterious case of Hewlett-Packard's Autonomy deal, Marketwatch, August 19, 2014
The Serious Fraud Office, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission joined the FBI in investigating the potential anomalies. HP incurred much damage with its stock falling to decades' low. Three lawsuits were brought by shareholders against HP, for the fall in value of HP shares. In August 2014 a United States district court judge threw out a proposed settlement, which Autonomy's previous management had argued would be collusive and intended to divert scrutiny of HP's own responsibility and knowledge, by essentially engaging the plaintiff's attorneys from the existing cases and redirecting them against the previous Autonomy vendors and management, for a fee of up to $48 million, with plaintiffs agreeing to end any claims against HP's management and similarly redirect those claims against the previous Autonomy vendors and management. In January 2015 the SFO closed its investigation as the likelihood of a successful prosecution was low. The dispute is still being litigated in the US, and is being investigated by the UK and Ireland Financial Reporting Council.
The advisory opinion of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, which recommended divestment, cited HP's involvement in assisting Israel in maintaining the occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and human rights abuses of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza strip through its hardware and information technology support to the Israeli military and settlements.
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