After the printer manufacturer has been saying that it will enter the 3D printing market for over a year, Hewlett-Packard has made a big step towards further focusing on the technology by splitting itself into two separate companies.
According to the company’s press release, one, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, will focus on “servers, storage, networking, converged systems, services and software as well as its OpenStack Helion cloud platform” and will be headed by current HP CEO, Meg Whitman. The other, HP Inc., will deal with the company’s printing businesses and personal systems and will have “a strong roadmap into the most exciting new technologies like 3D printing and new computing experiences.” The CEO of HP Inc. will be the company’s current Executive Vice President of the Printing and Personal Systems Group, Dion Weisler, but Whitman will serve as chairman of printing company’s board. The split will occur by the end of the 2015 fiscal year, with HP shareholders receiving shares of both companies, tax-free.
Whitman said of the news, “Our work during the past three years has significantly strengthened our core businesses to the point where we can more aggressively go after the opportunities created by a rapidly changing market. The decision to separate into two market-leading companies underscores our commitment to the turnaround plan. It will provide each new company with the independence, focus, financial resources, and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics…” Discussing HP Inc., specifically, she said, “Since assuming responsibility for the Printing and Personal Systems Group, Dion and his leadership team have done an excellent job of building our relationships with customers and channel partners, segmenting the market and driving product innovation. The creation of HP Inc. will only accelerate the progress the team has made.”
Weisler added, “This is a defining moment in our industry as customers are looking for innovation to enable workforces that are more mobile, connected and productive while at the same time allowing a seamless experience across work and play. As the market leader in printing and personal systems, an independent HP Inc. will be extremely well positioned to deliver that innovation across our traditional markets as well as extend our leadership into new markets like 3-D printing and new computing experiences – inventing technology that empowers people to create, interact and inspire like never before.”
Exactly how HP Inc. will be entering the 3D printing market has yet to be determined, though they’ve hinted at dealing with unique materials. Last year, Robert McMillan from Wired was given a tour of the company’s R&D labs, where he got a glimpse of a five-foot-tall 3D printer that 3D prints test objects with HP’s smooth and resilient polymer. 3DPI’s Juho also reported on a glass material made with sodium silicate that the company was working on.
Whether or not the 3D printing aspect has played a role, investors seem to be rallying behind the decision for HP to split into two companies, as the company’s stock has jumped up 5% as of this writing. As the news benefits HPQ shareholders, the news is less beneficial to 55,000 HP employees, Ars Technica reports. As of October 2013, HP has been in the process of laying off employees. In an investor presentation today, the company said that it will be kicking up the number of employees let go from an estimated 45-50k to 55,000 in order “to fund investment opportunities in R&D and sales.” Ars Technica‘s Jon Brodkin writes that, with Google’s employee base numbering 47,756 people, this adds up to “an entire Google’s worth of employees.”
It’s hard to see the news in a positive light after that grim bit of information, but I hope there’s a silver lining for those folks…
