Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday confirmed that it wants to spin off its PC business, positioning the division as a "$40 billion start-up."
HP announced the effort in a series of ads posted to its blog that claim the company "would be a $40 billion business with the agility and freedom of a start-up." One of those ads touted HP's status as the "number-one PC maker on the planet," which it says it achieved by staying focused on consumers. A spin-off, therefore, would create "a more agile organization to help us better anticipate change and quickly respond to customers."
The post comes the same week that Todd Bradley, head of HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), championed the idea of a spin-off in an interview with Reuters, and said he's lobbying to head it up. "My intention would be to lead it through this transaction ... and if it's a standalone public company, to lead that," he said. Bradley is featured heavily on a Web site set up to promote this idea. HP stressed, however, that "nothing has been confirmed except HP’s preference for spinning off the business."
This effort, of course, is on the heels of HP's August 18 announcement that it would acquire U.K.-based Autonomy and was looking to ditch its PC assets. The HP board authorized "the exploration of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group (PSG)" including "a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction."
For more, see HP is Too Big to Build Stuff and HP's Stunning Moves Bode Ill for the PC Industry, as well as Should HP Sell Its PC Group? And check out the slideshow below for more thoughts on which company might be best-suited to buy HP's PC business.