Hewlett Packard (HP) CEO Meg Whitman said the company's revenue should stabilize before expanding rapidly in 2015 during a meeting in San Jose, Calif. with financial analysts. The desktop and tablet maker has had some hard times due to year-over-year dips. Who does Whitman blaim for the HP's financial woes?
Microsoft and Intel.
"HP's traditional highly-profitable markets face significant disruption," said Whitman. "We are seeing profound changes in the competitive landscape. Current long-time partners, like Intel and Microsoft are increasingly becoming outright competitors."
Joining the likes of Acer, and Lenovo, HP blames the Windows entrance into the tablet market. Microsoft's Surface line are in direct competition with HP's own line of Windows 8 tablets. Dell even blamed its sluggish sells on Window 8's complicated user interfaces.
Intel over the years have been a key provider of processors for Apple's desktops and laptops among entering into other efforts. That includes computer security, a rumored set-top and cloud computing.
Moor Insights & Strategy principal analyst Patrick Moorhead doesn't see HP's allegations as a cop-out.
"I don't think this was scapegoating," said Moorhead. "For HP, this hasn't been discussed as an additional challenge for them. But if she hadn't brought it up in this forum[before financial analysts], and did later, then it would have looked like scapegoating."
This had lead the company to form an alliance with Google by releasing a ChromeOS-based Chromebook. Launched this week for $279, the Chromebook 11 was developed alongside Google. HP plans on releasing devises not only based on Windows and Chrome, but Android and Ubuntu in the future. Administrative restructuring also seems to be in order at the company with a better-organized leadership team and $3 billion set for research and development. The company expects a free cash flow of $6 to $6.5 billion in its 2014 fiscal year as Whitman says she is now "comfortable" with HP's improvements.
