No, it's like McDonalds getting out of the McFlurry business.
HP has a large enterprise hardware business with much bigger profit margins. This includes servers, storage, ethernet switches, etc. Everybody seems to forget this.
Given the onslaught of chinese PC manufacturers and the diminishing profit margins, this makes some sense (like it did for IBM, that also dropped their PC business but kept their server business).
I disagree. It's like McDonalds dropping hamburgers from the menu because they don't have the profit margins of soda. Except who would go to a McDonalds who only sells soda? Sometimes the unprofitable side of your business directly and/or indirectly fuels the other most profitable aspects of your biz. Dropping the most public facing division of HP will have unforeseen consequences over time.
I don't know about you, but it's been a LONG time since I've seen anyone using an HP computer. If the general consumer wants a computer for their home, they typically buy from Dell. This is also true for a lot of companies. HP hasn't been a major player in the consumer PC market for a long time. I don't think leaving the consumer PC industry will matter much at all in terms of their "public facing division."
No other competitor came close to HP, though, which shipped 18 million computers in the fourth quarter. It finished the year with almost 20 percent of all PC shipments globally.
I did not know that. Thanks for sharing. However, that comment comes right after this one:
"The corporate PC segment continues to outperform the consumer market as companies replace systems with newer, faster, more efficient computers," Wilkins said.
Since the article doesn't distinguish consumer vs corporate sales, I suspect that they are suggesting the most of HP's computer sales being from the corporate segment, which is not at all surprising. If that's the case, it supports what I said, "HP hasn't been a major player in the consumer PC market for a long time"
Related, and maybe I missed this, but is HP selling off all of their PC division, or just the consumer PC division? If it's everything, has anyone seen any explanation why the company that shipped the most PCs by a decent margin would be looking to leave the market?
Many people who haven't dealt with HP in business are unaware of the large amount of enterprise software they provide. For example, HP is one of the largest healthcare software providers. Just go to their website and take a look.
HP has a large enterprise hardware business with much bigger profit margins. This includes servers, storage, ethernet switches, etc. Everybody seems to forget this.
Given the onslaught of chinese PC manufacturers and the diminishing profit margins, this makes some sense (like it did for IBM, that also dropped their PC business but kept their server business).