Market cap

* For banks, enterprise value is substituted with market cap. Source: Bloomberg Finance L.P.

Performance of the brand

Hewlett-Packard Company, often referred to as HP, is a multinational information technology corporation headquartered in the US. Founded in a one-car garage by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939 with initial capital of just $538, 2007 saw HP became the first IT company to post net revenues of more than $100bn. HP has many successful lines of computers and peripherals for personal and business use. With the recent acquisition of Palm failing to boost HP's smartphone marketshare, HP will look to its other big 2010 acquisition, 3PAR, to enhance its cloud computing and storage solutions business. 2011 sees HP start to move away from personal computers and towards expanding its server and technology services business.

Palm plan fails as HP wave good bye to webOS

April 2010 saw HP buy Palm, Inc. for $1.2bn in cash and debt, beating off rumoured interest from HTC, Dell and RIM. Buying the smartphone manufacturer that once dominated the handled computing industry was meant to help launch HP into the smartphone and tablet PC market. However the release of the HP Touchpad in July 2011 saw underwhelming reviews and on August 18 2011, less than 7 weeks after launch HP announced it would discontinue all webOS devices, selling remaining TouchPads at substantially reduced price. The move was symptomatic of a disjointed company, the announcement coming just hours after some at HP had been contacting journalists to arrange trials for the TouchPad’s launch in local markets. To have so few within a company aware such a move was coming did little to reassure investors after then-CEO Mark Hurd’s resignation in 2010.

Life away from the Hurd

Mike Hurd joined HP in 2005 and under his leadership they became the top seller of laptops by 2006 and desktop computers by 2007. During the period they also increased their inkjet and laser printers market share. Known for aggressive cost-cutting, Hurd predicted that 2009 sales would drop by as much as 5% but profit would rise by nearly 6%. Such was the shock and loss of credibility after his controversial resignation that HP lost $9bn in market capitalisation when shares began trading the Monday after the announcement.

Now-CEO Leo Apotheker has a tough job on his hands, after HP's surprise exit from the smartphone and tablet PC markets HP are to focus on the promise of higher margin ‘strategic priorities of cloud, solutions and software with an emphasis on enterprise, commercial and government markets’.

HP may be looking to emulate IBM in 2005 by quitting the PC business but continuing to sell servers and concentrating on the technology services side of their business.

Latest acquisition to bring HP above par

HP's 2010 purchase of 3PAR for $2.07bn, beating off rivals Dell, should help HP in their new direction. 3PAR is a manufacturer of systems and software for data storage and information management and its addition should strengthen HP’s storage products.

With a strong history and a simple logo recognised around the world HP has the brand foundation to bounce back from its tablet PC disaster. With 2011 a great year for technology companies as a whole HP will need to ensure they don’t get left behind.

 

 

Last changed September 30, 2011

League tables

HP appears in the following brand league tables:

Rank 21 in the Global 500 2012.
Rank 13 in the Global 500 2011.
Rank 13 in the Global 500 2011.
Rank 9 in the Global 500 2010.
Rank 9 in the Global 500 2009.
Rank 8 in the Global 500 2008.
Rank 9 in the Global 250 2007.