HP profits slump below forecasts as PC sales slide

21 Aug 2015

HP chief executive Meg Whitman

Hewlett-Packard has once more reported sliding profits, with net income falling 13pc to US$854m, with sales down across numerous divisions.

Despite this being a recurring theme – HP’s profits have been falling for years now – the HP results still fell below analysts’ estimates, with the company’s own estimates turning out to be a bit optimistic, too. Revenues were down 8pc, to US$25.3bn.

“PCs, and print to some degree, had a tough quarter,” said Meg Whitman, HP’s chief executive “We think, by the way, that these market conditions are going to continue for at least several quarters.”

Despite the falling performance, HP’s role should not be discounted. It is the second-largest PC seller in the world, and had hoped that the Windows 10 release would help spark a revival in that sector.

Alas it, along with market leader Lenovo, didn’t experience the results that it hoped for.

It’s a time of great flux for the tech giant. In terms of its operating environment, HP is facing incredible competition across its entire hardware range, with smartphones, PCs and tablets some of the most competitive markets around at the moment.

From an internal position, HP is planning to split its operations in two in a couple of months. Until then layoffs will continue, with the staffing scenario a little unpredictable when the company finally divides.

The seismic split will see the creation of HP – which will sell its PCs and printers – and HP Enterprise, which will look towards business, selling cloud and technology services.

The latter should profit from acquisitions like that of Voltage Security earlier this year.

The company has said that it has already started operating as separate businesses, but it’s hard to predict how smooth the official process will go.

Main image via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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