Bloomberg last night published portions of a May 4th memo from HP CEO Leo Apotheker to top execs in which he warned that the company was facing “another tough quarter” and urged all groups to “watch every penny and minimize all hiring.”
As a result, HP reported second quarter 2011 results a day early.
“Hewlett-Packard Co. warned of lower-than-expected results in its current quarter and again reduced its 2011 outlook as the tech company struggles with soft computer sales and faces further investment in its services business,” Ian Sherr reports for Dow Jones Newswires. “Tuesday, H-P blamed its lowered outlook on falling consumer PC sales, ‘near-term impact’ from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March, and lower operating profits in its services unit… It called its consumer performance ‘uneven,’ with continued softness in consumer PCs.”
Sherr reports, “Shares slipped 4.8% to $37.90 premarket as H-P now sees full-year earnings before items of at least $5 a share on revenue between $129 billion and $130 billion, compared with February estimates for earnings of $5.20 to $5.28 a share and $130 billion to $131.5 billion in revenue.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s Mac has outgrown the Windows PC market for 20 consecutive quarters and counting.
Gee, maybe they should adopt thunderbolt after all.
And cut out the crap.
HP was once-upon-a-time the granddaddy of tech. Ever since HP worked under the shadow of Micro$oft, it has become the king of crap.
HP was a lauded brand, once. Then the last of the founders, William Hewlett, died and the whole shebang has been going downhill since. I used an HP scientific calculator in college which to me was the apex of calculator technology, apart from the piece of baggage called a laptop.
When I joined the workforce I opted for a Compaq/HP which was subsequently upgraded to full HP as Compaq had a disconcerting habit of breaking down. HP was slightly better. I then bought my own laptop which was again an HP not knowing the hassles the IT department faced dealing with HP. When it came time for me to escalate an issue HP directed me to an India helpline which to all intents & purposes was no help at all as all I got was a regurgitation of a standard operator’s questionnaire.
Since switching to a Mac & leaving all the problems of HP & Microsoft behind, I couldn’t be happier. Apple held my hand all the way in a language that I could understand. I did not feel rushed on tech support and they spent as much time as was required to ensure that I understood the problem I was facing.
That’s the reason Apple trumps HP and why HP is slumping. I ditched them for good and will never go back to them again with the exception of laser printers.
HP’s greatness lives on, in a company called Agilent. Agilent was split off of HP to keep making test equipment and the like; stuff that HP was famous for. The HP name was taken by the computer dweebs.
Shouldn’t HP be more specific, such as stating Windows PC sales are soft?
Hmm…I wonder what they are talking about? Things seem fine on the Apple side of the street. 🙂
The same thing will happen to Dell in their report. They lost 60% to 80% of their back to school sales! People don’t want them. Companies don’t want them. Schools don’t have our tax dollars to through at this crap any more.
The only back to school surge is Apple’s. They have 70% to 85% of the student market now!
But, but, but, in the latest “I’m a PC” ad, that British lady with a PC store in her home, chose the HP all-in-one touchscreen PC! Surely, that one purchase, okay it was free, has tipped the balance towards growing HP sales!
(said with much sarcasm)
“…full-year earnings before items of at least $5 a share on revenue between $129 billion and $130 billion.”
Less than 4%. Apple’s cash and marketable securities is probably doing better than that. How’s that marketshare working for ya’, HP?
We sell HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, and MSi were I work; of the 4, HP has the worst sales in laptops, but the best sales in desktops (percentage wise).
When it comes to printers, however, HP blows everyone else out of the water in sales. I look for some convergence in the printer market soon. There are just too many companies vying for the remaining (behind HP) printer market.
On a side note, we devote more of our store to printers and supplies than any other type of tech. I can def see Apple buying one of the smaller printer companies and getting in on the money racket.