HP’s new CEO Meg Whitman said on Tuesday that she wanted to accelerate the decision on HP’s PC business to no later than the end of October. Speaking at the Most Powerful Women Summit, she wanted to move it up to faster than the December timeframe ousted CEO Leo Apotheker had leaned towards. She later explained to Reuters that the timing could move but that she was fully aware that the delay was creating doubts among buyers.
“Uncertainty is not our friend here,” the one-time eBay executive said.
The company made the decision in mid-August after Apotheker concluded that the iPad and other tablets were quickly making HP’s computer business untenable. At the time, he not only put a decision four months away but didn’t expect any possible spin-out or sale to happen for another 12 to 18 months. The decision was attacked almost immediately for leading pro buyers, and even some home buyers, to wonder whether HP would still be around to support its PCs later on.
Whitman still agrees with Apotheker’s core decisions despite them possibly contributing to his exit. This too has been questioned as it both erases HP’s public identity as a PC builder and takes HP out of the mobile arena.
