[tom h]

"I came across this series of articles reading up on HP's decision to get out of the laptop business. In that case, they calculate that home computers, though a third of their business, are not as profitable as other segments, so they should cut them loose. HP is being stupid, IMO. Besides the free advertising they get from having HP consumer products at home and in the office in constant use, they are going to lose their buying power for components they will need for specialty products they think they would make higher margins on."

Think you're wrong here. HP is getting out of the laptop business for the right reasons:

First, PCs are not a core competency of HP. HP bought Compaq Computer less than 10 years ago, at a time when Compaq was not even dominant. It will have turned out to be a bad investment so HP will be divesting what was a bad investment for them.

Second, PCs, especially laptops, are endangered. Notebooks and tablets will quickly consume the laptop market because they are lighter, "cooler," equally powerful, with far better operating systems. Also, cloud computing and virtualization will mean the end of most desktop computers, in business at least.

For many years, PCs have been money-losing propositions. Most companies stay in the business for other reasons -- profits off bundled software, etc.

When HP bought Compaq they morphed from being an innovative company to being just another bottom-feeding PC company. With the PC divestiture they will perhaps regain their former status.

[Dick Holmes]

You might be right about HP. Maybe they are cutting loose some bad investments they made, that don't fit their core skills. And I know HP's laptops are made in China anyway.

I do get worried, in general, about decisions made for sound business reasons, that result in further deindustrializing the USA and making us less able to compete. What did you think of the Forbes articles?