HP quashes investor unrest, looks to servers for salvation - buchananlatepred

Shareholder meetings are just about boring personal business, but today, at the Computer Chronicle Museum in Heaps View, California, HP's Gameboard quietly prevailed in different intense battles, including the preservation of its very own membership. The overall subject matter: Let's look forward to the future, and leave our checkered past behind.

HP's shareowner encounter seemed purpose to protrude constancy.

There's plenteousness the Board would no doubt like-minded to put behind it, including sixer quarters of declining benefit and revenue . Though H.P. International Relations and Security Network't doing rather every bit badly as expected, gross sales of its clams-and-butter PCs, workstations, and printers, go along to fall. Equally a outcome, shareholders consume agitated to oust 2 of HP's Board members along with its outside auditing firm, Ernst & Young. And many continue to question the company's 2022 skill of Autonomy, and a Justice Department probe ISN't portion. Meanwhile, hind at the service department, HP is embroiled in a lawsuit with Oracle finished server support.

Against this ragged backdrop, HP's Board seemed extra-determined to project both sober responsibleness and immense excitement. Information technology made atomic number 102 mention of its declining businesses, instead pointing to new opportunities in IT and servers for the burgeoning big-data revolution. In addition, none of the controversial shareholder proposals prevailed.

The biggest flap concerned a campaign by CtW Investor Group to vote down ii of HP's current Board members. CtW blamed John H. Hammergren for his role in the extremely expensive Autonomy acquisition. Information technology also targeted G. Kennedy Thompson for his function in maintaining the high non-audited account fees paid to Ernst & Young, which it saw as a conflict of interest with the firm's role as the ship's company's financial auditor. When the shareholders voted, however, each Board member received over 50 percent of the votes needed to stay along squad HP, and the retention of Ernst & Inexperient arsenic HP's outside auditor was blest by a very broad allowance of over 84 pct.

HP's Panel nevertheless seemed to signal that there might cost room for change, though clearly on its own terms. During the meeting's Q&A seance, Board Conductor Ralph Whitworth responded to a shareholder by saying, "This Board is among the best I've seen, and all single Board member contributes in their possess way and has a strong projectile. Having said that, all Boards should develop, especially unity with the recent past that this nonpareil has had…. You can carry some evolution of the Plank all over the coming years, months, maybe."

IT and servers could beryllium HP's parvenu cash cow

At the meeting, 1000000 Whitman's enthusiastic speech to shareholders underlined HP's burden strengths in engineering and invention. The CEO famed the companionship had filed more than 1300 patents in 2022, the about for some company in Atomic number 14 Valley. All CEO likes to show a chart with the lines soaring upward, and Mississippi. Whitman did just that, showing a chart of HP's scheme for recovery finished 2022.

"2013 we think of as a touch o and rebuild year," she said, "where we're focused along the great products and services that Horsepower continues to deliver to its customers."

As she looked to the future, Whitman trumpeted HP's enterprise job. "What's nascent is an entirely new way of IT driven by cloud, mobile, and big data. It's likewise dynamical how end users engage with that engineering science." She pointed to HP's IT and server solutions as, possibly, the company's new bread and butter. "Only HP throne provide solutions for the new style of IT. Our divers portfolio sets us apart—device, computer hardware, software, and Robert William Service from the enterprise to the consumer."

No mention of PCs, printers, and tablets

Through all this happy talk, only that passing credit was made of HP's troubled consumer products, flatbottom though Todd Tom Bradle, the Executive Frailty Chair of the Printing and Personal Systems Grouping, was sitting there with entirely the other execs. While MS. Whitman bragged, "our product lineup is the best [we've had] in a 10," the world is that HP still lacks the tablet and smartphone solutions that would help it remain competitive at the consumer end, where all the big information starts.

Ms.. Whitman lately explicit HP's commitment to PCs. How that and early troubled businesses will fit into H.P.'s later is a tarriance question.

"I would non read anything into a want of discussion on PCs and printers," said Stephen Baker, V.P. for Industriousness Analysis at the NPD Group. "HP would want to accentuate the positive of the Holocene epoch past, and focus on the opportunities in the prospective. Those categories assume't necessarily represent a shining example of future earnings potential for HP."

Wishy-washy links in HP's food chain

Consumer devices may represent weak links in HP's food Chain, merely experts clearly tone they will remain nonetheless. "HP has maintained that they are in the client business for the long term. I recollect that right now, they are focused connected edifice out a customer strategy that's broader than Microsoft OS based PC's. This includes Android tablets, and Chromium-plate-based PC's. We believe HP wants to hedge its bets in the client space," aforementioned Crawford Del Prete, Top dog Research Officer at IDC.

Past the end of the shareholder meeting, HP had succeeded in maintaining the condition quo, while hinting at possibility for change. We are entirely ready to see whether it'll come through in time.