Hewlett Packard now: $2 Billion Qtr. Loss, more layoffs

Yahoo tech line ^ | 10/3/2002 | MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer

[Jack Black]

Associated Press

HP to Cut Additional 1,800 Jobs Citing Continued Weak Demand, Hewlett-Packard Co. Will Cut 1,800 Jobs Beyond the 15,000 Planned Wednesday September 25, 9:55 pm ET

By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Citing continued weak demand, Hewlett-Packard Co. said Wednesday it will cut 1,800 jobs beyond the 15,000 reductions planned as part of its Compaq Computer Corp. acquisition. In a note sent to employees Tuesday, the company blamed the latest reductions on a "continued market slowdown and HP's clear intent to have a competitive, world-class cost structure."

As of the third quarter, which ended July 31, the company had reduced its net headcount by 4,740. The remaining cuts, totaling about 12,000, are expected to be completed by Oct. 31, the end of the company's current fiscal year.

Like other high-tech companies, Palo Alto-based HP has been hit hard by a slowdown in spending by large corporate customers, a slump that has lasted longer than first expected.

The company's bottom line also has suffered because of weak demand for personal computers. Its printing and imaging division, however, continues to do well despite the economic downturn.

In the letter to employees, HP executives said the company continues to hire in some areas, including printing and services.

The $18.9 billion merger with Houston-based Compaq closed May 3 after one of the most ferocious proxy battles in American corporate history. Combined, the companies had 150,000 employees.

In its first full results since the deal was finalized in May, HP lost $2.03 billion in its fiscal third quarter, compared to a loss of $116 million if the companies had been together last year.

Shares of HP gained 55 cents to close Wednesday at $12.84 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Hewlett-Packard: http://www.hp.com

[Jack Black]

A search on Hewlett in the FR archives shows some excellent first hand descriptions of the havoc wroght, criticism of their politically correct ads, complaints about their products, and continuing reports on the manipulation used to pass the vote. Through all this another corrupt CEO hangs on.

[boris]

"A search on Hewlett in the FR archives shows some excellent first hand descriptions of the havoc wroght, criticism of their politically correct ads, complaints about their products, and continuing reports on the manipulation used to pass the vote. Through all this another corrupt CEO hangs on."

H-P (used to) make the best calculators in the Galaxy. Ditto oscilloscopes and other electronic equipment. Their medical-electronics were second to none.

Somewhere they got delusions of grandeur...I think about the time they ate Apollo (the workstation people)...

Stick to the knitting!

--Boris

[sarcasm]

I still have the HP financial calculator that I bought when I was in grad school over 20 years age. The last time I tried using it, it still worked.

[Billy_bob_bob]

Hurricane Carly has hit HP hard. I still cannot figure her strategy out. Get rid of all of the high-value added product lines like electronic test equipment, medical electronics etc. and focus on building low-value added products like PC's. This is a whizbang financial genius CEO of the 21st century?

[evolved_rage]

My 11c will be 20 next year...

[abenaki]

It was a DUMB move to merge with COMPAQ. COMPAQ would have been sold off at auction by this time. The workers who created all that wealth are being back-stabbed. Do you think Carly will survive the next annual meeting?

[bimbo]

I still have the HP financial calculator that I bought when I was in grad school over 20 years age. The last time I tried using it, it still worked.

I still use the HP-35 calculator I bought in 1972. It works fine. I particularly like the reverse-polish notation. How did students ever work Thermodynamics problems with a slide-rule?

[snopercod]

H-P (used to) make the best calculators in the Galaxy. Ditto oscilloscopes and other electronic equipment. Their medical-electronics were second to none.

I still have my HP-45. Although the batteries have long-ago died, it still works when I plug in the charger. Now my HP-41V recently died, and my wife bought me a $4 non-RPN replacement from China. Sigh...

Their test equipment was first class, with one exception. H-P scopes could never hold a candle to the ones Tektronix made. They never quite got that one right.

[Northpaw]

Do you think Carly will survive the next annual meeting?

Carly will get the boot and will retire with more money from HP than all freeper's annual incomes combined. Sick.

[usconservative]

Hurricane Carly has hit HP hard.

Carly Fiorina has got to go! She's taken a once great company with world-class solutions and is reducing it to a commodity based, consumer driven company.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTT!

I've been working with (not for) HP for more than a decade amd have deployed their Unix, Storage & Software solutions at almost every company I've worked for since 1990. HP used to provide excellent integrated services aimed at high reliability and excellent service. That's all gone.

As one of HP's Bravo Award Winners for Technical Excellence in 2001 (and there's only 25 of those in the world) I can tell you point blank that the "New HP" sucks rocks! Fiorina has jettisoned every HP person worth their salt in favor of Compaq's employees & management. Compaq's people don't know diddly about the high end storage market or high end Unix Server & services market. Yet, somehow - magically I suppose - they're going to replace the years of experience HP's people had with these dolt's from Compaq. Brilliant move Carly ... not!

The best thing that could happen to HP is for it's BOD to get smart and dump that stupid b*tch Carly Fiorna. First she screwed up Lucent, now she's doing it to HP!

[ChadGore]

I don't mean to over simplify this but, we need profitable companies.

Jack Welch ! Come back ! Your country needs you!

[Billy_bob_bob]

Hey, how about that Lucent? I wonder how long before the 1 for 10 reverse split? Or will it be 1 for 20?

[snopercod]

focus on building low-value added products like PC's. ...and inkjet printers.

It sounds stupid, but I think they made that switch out of desperation. The America electronics industry which was the market for much of their test equipment moved overseas en-masse in the mid 70's. American manufacturing followed in the late 80's and 90's.

It's my sense that America doesn't use much electronic test equipment any more. No factories = no test equipment.

[abenaki]

Her next job might be VP of touchy-feely at DeutscheBank!!

[kilohertz]

Hurricane Carly has hit HP hard. I still cannot figure her strategy out. Get rid of all of the high-value added product lines like electronic test equipment, ...

Yeah, not the greatest idea to let a chick from Lucent marketing run HP. I also can't figure out why they split off Agilent, I always though instruments were the soul of HP. Not that I get sentimental about this stuff, but I liked seeing the old HP logo on equipment -- kind of continuity in the industry going back to pre-war Palo Alto. What's an "Agilent," anyway? A name some ad firm just made up?

[snopercod]

Thermodynamics problems with a slide-rule?

Hey, I can still do rectangular to polar conversion on my 10" Post sliderule. (I have a crib sheet in the overleaf of my CRC Tables).

[Cboldt]

My 15C was purchased Oct 26, 1982, so is almost 20

[kilohertz]

Somewhere they got delusions of grandeur...I think about the time they ate Apollo (the workstation people)...

In all fairness, it's hard to be a computer company these days unless you're Microsoft, Intel, or Dell. It's especially hard to be a PC computer company, which is what HP effectively has become now (I think their Unix and HP3000 (?) lines are being de-emphasized.)

Which kind of brings up the question of why the pre-Carly HP didn't try to figure out how to stop doing PCs and concentrate on something they can make some reasonable money at. For instance, printers and instruments.

[abenaki]

Hey Boris: The most money I ever made in a single day was when H-P bought Apollo. It was simple blind luck, but a welcome bailout for me. So, I know how the bottom-fish who held COMPAQ felt.

[eno_]

Mine's bigger: My Post Versalog is 14" of bamboo and real ivory. It never crashes.