Report: HP To Merge PC And Printer Groups

HP is set to merge its PC and printer groups, according to sources familiar with the matter, as it looks to battle back from a turbulent 2011.

CEO Meg Whitman has been leading the restructuring charge at the Silicon Valley giant, which saw some poor results in February. Whitman has called for patience, yet the changes at the firm continue at a rapid pace, with AllThingsD reporting that the imaging and printing group is to be moved under the Personal Systems Group (PSG)

HP told TechWeekEurope it is not commenting on the story.

Saving PSG

Former CEO Leo Apotheker had plans to either sell or spin off PSG, but Whitman moved quickly to secure the division’s future. Now it looks set to be an expanded group.The plans will see the printing group’s longtime leader Vyomesh Joshi leave the company. Executive vice president Todd Bradley will take control of division, the sources said.

HP saw earnings slump almost 44 percent in the company’s first quarter results from February. Every division saw declines in revenue, even the printing group, which Whitman has previously described as the “lifeblood” of the vendor.

PSG saw revenue slump 15 percent, which HP partly blamed on the Thai floods hitting hard drive supply. Despite its poor money-making history, investment in PSG looks set to continue. HP is set to launch a Windows 8 business tablet before the end of the year.

Enterprise servers, storage and networking equipment fell 10 per cent, despite some major acquisitions in those areas. Despite reporting massive growth of 3PAR customers, storage failed to be a major boon over the period.

Last month, it was reported HP was to cut 275 jobs in its webOS division. Last year, 500 from that same division were moved on.

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