They're doing MVP a bit better than you think. They start with the sales pipeline and if they don't get the number and quality of prospects up to where they want it they can adjust their vision before they go through expensive builds. On top of that they are heading off a whole pile of would-be-buyers who will now postpone their 'brand-x' purchase until they see what HP really has to offer.
You bring up a good point jacquesm. When you think of it as HP trying to identify market segments, the connect to us form includes company information and position. You could database possible applications.
I do not feel they are stupid, just noting the amount of monies poured into this website for a non-functional product for a company that is desperately seeking revenue. Can HP R&D make it to 2016?
You're assuming that the people who built the site could be working elsewhere in HP producing revenue. HP already employs the content creators and lawyers, so they are already spending the money whether this site is created or not. HP has a huge sales engine and customer base, so marketing new products like this is perfect for getting feedback while producing the product.
I agree with you. The level of waste from these large companies just makes me even more angry that they're able to persist at these rates. However, money is power is money is power is money is power is money is power...
Before the split they where easily making 5+ billion profit per year and had 317,500 Employees. So, while I don't know all the numbers post split I doubt there having many issues right now.
This is not nearly as stupid as you make it seem.