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Tag: HP

  • The Chip Shortage Is Now a Chip Glut

    The Chip Shortage Is Now a Chip Glut

    The semiconductor industry has swung from one extreme to another, going from a shortage to a glut as consumer demand changes.

    During the height of the pandemic, semiconductors were in short supply. A combination of production issues as a result of lockdowns, combined with increased demand for computers and other electronic as people worked from home, led to a massive shortage of chips. The shortage was also spurred by stimulus money being poured into the economy, giving individuals more disposable income to spend on tablets, gaming consoles, and more.

    According to The Wall Street Journal, that situation has changed dramatically as consumer spending has decreased. The overall economy is in the midst of a downturn, with stimulus money having long-since dried up, layoffs impacting multiple industries, and growing uncertainty about the future of the economy.

    The result has been increased availability of computers and other electronics, not to mention falling prices.

    “Today we have a large inventory, especially on the consumer side, which is driving very aggressive pricing because all of us are trying to reduce those inventories,” said HP Chief Executive Enrique Lores.

    Chipmakers and PC manufacturers are already taking steps to stabilize supply and demand such as reducing the number of chips they manufacture, or computers they ship, to help drive up demand.

    “Even as they were selling through their inventory, they were not replenishing stock to the same levels,” said AMD chief Lisa Su. “I think the market will continue to be volatile.”

  • HP Plans Long-Term Layoffs in the Thousands

    HP is the latest company to announce layoffs, saying it will let 4,000 to 6,000 employees go over the next three years.

    Layoffs have been hitting the tech industry hard as lower consumer demand, combined with supply chain issues, have taken a toll on many companies operations. HP has announced a number of changes, as part of its “Future Ready Transformation” plan, including layoffs.

    Unlike many companies that are laying off thousands in one fell swoop, HP said in a statement that its layoffs will occur over a three-year period, ending in 2025.

    Today, HP Inc. announced a fiscal year 2023 Future Ready Transformation plan, driving significant structural cost savings through digital transformation, portfolio optimization and operational efficiency. The company estimates that these actions will result in annualized gross run rate savings of at least $1.4 billion by the end of fiscal 2025. The company estimates that it will incur approximately $1.0 billion in labor and non-labor costs related to restructuring and other charges, with approximately $0.6 billion in fiscal 2023, and the rest split approximately equally between fiscal 2024 and 2025. The company expects to reduce gross global headcount by approximately 4,000-6,000 employees. These actions are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2025.

  • Palm Is Back…Sort Of

    Palm Is Back…Sort Of

    Palm is teasing a comeback, although not necessarily in a way most people will recognize.

    Palm was synonymous with PDAs, powered by its Palm OS, and was a leader in the early smartphone market with its Treo line of devices. Pressure from Microsoft took its toll on the company’s position in the market, and the iPhone helped put the nail in the coffin.

    The company tried to turn the tide with a new OS, webOS. Ultimately it failed to turn things around and was bought by HP, largely thanks to webOS and the promise it held. HP eventually sold the Palm trademarks to a company associated with TCL Corporation.

    TCL seems interested in bringing the Palm name back, and is teasing the launch of a new product on October 26. While the tweet teasing the product doesn’t explicitly say what it is, it seems to indicate it may be some kind of headphones.

    Only time will tell if Palm’s future is rosier than its past.

  • LG Will License webOS to Other Smart TV Makers

    LG Will License webOS to Other Smart TV Makers

    LG has announced it will license its webOS smart TV platform to other TV makers, specifically brand partners.

    webOS has a long history in the tech industry, originally being released by Palm, Inc. in 2009 to replace the aging Palm OS. Palm was never able to recover its former glory and was acquired, along with webOS, by HP the following year.

    In 2013, HP sold webOS to LG, with the latter using it to power their smart TVs. The platform generally receives positive reviews for its sleek and intuitive interface, fast performance and overall versatility.

    LG has now decided to license webOS to other TV manufacturers, a move that will likely spur widespread adoption of the platform. The company says there is already over 20 TV manufacturers that have committed to the webOS partnership worldwide.

    “The webOS platform is one of the easiest and most convenient way to access millions of hours of movies and TV shows,” said Park Hyoung-sei, president of the LG Home Entertainment Company. “By welcoming other manufacturers to join the webOS TV ecosystem, we are embarking on a new path that allows many new TV owners to experience the same great UX and features that are available on LG TVs. We look forward to bringing these new customers into the incredible world of webOS TV.”

  • Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Update to Address Swollen Batteries

    Microsoft Releases Windows 10 Update to Address Swollen Batteries

    Microsoft has released an update to Windows 10 in an effort to help prevent some HP laptops from experiencing swollen batteries.

    Some HP Business Notebooks began experiencing a number of issues related to HP Battery Health Manager. The problems could include performance issues, reduced battery life and, in the worst cases, swollen batteries.

    Microsoft worked with HP to identify the cause of the issue and release a fix. The update changes the battery charging algorithm, which should address the issue.

    “To address a configuration settings issue, HP worked with Microsoft to deliver an HP solution that detects if select HP business notebooks have HP Battery Health Manager disabled in their BIOS, and enables it with the recommended setting of Let HP Manage My Battery Charging,” reads the HP Knowledge Base. “With this setting enabled, the notebook dynamically changes how it charges the notebook battery based on usage conditions over time, improving the overall health and life of the battery.”

    The update is a targeted fix and will only be available to impacted systems.

  • Amazon Announces ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ to Aid Sustainable Shopping

    Amazon Announces ‘Climate Pledge Friendly’ to Aid Sustainable Shopping

    Amazon has announced a new initiative, Climate Pledge Friendly, to help customers shop for sustainable products.

    Amazon has increasingly been under fire from its own employees for a perceived lack of effort toward addressing climate change. This included a “climate strike” in 2019, when hundreds of employees walked out. The efforts appear to have made an impact, as Jeff Bezos pledged $10 billion to fight climate change in early 2020, and now Amazon has unveiled its new initiative.

    Climate Pledge Friendly labels will appear on some 25,000 different products across a host of categories, including grocery, household, personal electronics, fashion and beauty, to name just a few. In order to receive the label, a product will need to have at least one of 19 sustainability certifications. A number of brands have gotten onboard, including Seventh Generation, Burt’s Bees Baby, Mrs. Meyer’s and HP.

    “Climate Pledge Friendly is a simple way for customers to discover more sustainable products that help preserve the natural world,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “With 18 external certification programs and our own Compact by Design certification, we’re incentivizing selling partners to create sustainable products that help protect the planet for future generations.”

  • Apple’s Silicon Will Force Microsoft to Adopt ARM

    Apple’s Silicon Will Force Microsoft to Adopt ARM

    Jean-Louis Gassée, former Apple executive, has postulated that Apple’s move to custom silicon will force Microsoft to move to ARM.

    Jean-Louis Gassée worked at Apple from 1981 to 1990, taking over as head of Mac development following Steve Jobs’ ouster. After his own departure from Apple, Gassée founded Be, Inc., the creator of BeOS. With his background, Gassée has a unique insight into the industry.

    Gassée ultimately believes that Apple’s decision to abandon Intel chips in favor of its own custom silicon will have profound impacts on the industry at large. Specifically, he believes Microsoft will be forced to follow suit, and adopt ARM processors to keep up.

    After first pointing out the same advantages we have highlighted at WPN—such as heat dissipation, better battery life and faster performance—Gassée predicts Apple’s new Macs could have as much as a 25% throughput advantage over Intel machines when they debut. This will force Microsoft to make a decision to either adapt or cede the high-performance market to Apple.

    “This leaves Microsoft with a choice: Either forget Windows on ARM and cede modern PCs to Apple, or forge ahead, fix app compatibility problems and offer an ARM-based alternative to Apple’s new Macs,” writes Gassée. “It’s a false dilemma, of course. Microsoft will forge ahead…with repercussions for the rest of the Windows PC industry.

    “Specifically, what are Dell, HP, Asus, and others going to do if Apple offers materially better laptops and desktops and Microsoft continues to improve Windows on ARM Surface devices? In order to compete, PC manufacturers will have to follow suit, they’ll ‘go AR’ because, all defensive rhetoric aside, Apple and Microsoft will have made the x86 architecture feel like what it actually is: old.”

    Gassée’s take is a fascinating read, and one Intel and the PC community should take seriously. If his predictions are true, it looks like Apple may be upending the computer industry once again.

  • Xerox Calls Off Hostile Attempt to Acquire HP

    Xerox Calls Off Hostile Attempt to Acquire HP

    Amid the current health and economic crisis, Xerox has announced it is calling off its attempt to merge with HP.

    Xerox had been attempting to acquire HP since last year, putting in two separate offers. The first offer was unanimously rejected by HP’s board, leading Xerox to increase their offer in February. The company hoped the offer would enable “stockholders to accept Xerox’s compelling offer despite HP’s consistent refusal to pursue the opportunity.”

    With the ongoing global crisis, however, Xerox has ended its hostile takeover attempt. According to a company press release, the current situation has “created an environment that is not conducive to Xerox continuing to pursue an acquisition of HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) (“HP”). Accordingly, we are withdrawing our tender offer to acquire HP and will no longer seek to nominate our slate of highly qualified candidates to HP’s Board of Directors.

    “While it is disappointing to take this step, we are prioritizing the health, safety and well-being of our employees, customers, partners and other stakeholders, and our broader response to the pandemic, over and above all other considerations.

    “There remain compelling long-term financial and strategic benefits from combining Xerox and HP. The refusal of HP’s Board to meaningfully engage over many months and its continued delay tactics have proven to be a great disservice to HP stockholders, who have shown tremendous support for the transaction.”

    It remains to be seen what measures Xerox may take once the crisis is over.

  • Coronavirus: Latest Tool in the Fight: 3D Printing

    Coronavirus: Latest Tool in the Fight: 3D Printing

    As hospitals and medical facilities struggle to have enough equipment in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, HP is looking at 3D printing to help.

    One of the biggest challenges medical facilities are facing is having enough face masks, ventilators, breathing filters and more. In addition, there are ongoing efforts to modify doors to allow them to be opened with feet and elbows, instead of hands. In an effort to help such initiatives, HP is ramping up its 3D printing efforts.

    CEO Enrique Lores said the company is “mobilizing our 3D Printing team and HP’s Digital Manufacturing Partner Network to design, validate and produce essential parts for medical responders and hospitals. This includes parts such as ventilator valves, breathing filters and face mask clasps, as well as entirely new parts such as plastic door handle adaptors which enable easy elbow opening to prevent further spread of the virus. We will make available any HP proprietary design files for these parts so they can be produced anywhere in the world and are also helping end-customers bridge potential supply chain interruptions by expanding distributed print-on-demand capabilities.”

    The company is also “deploying HP BioPrinters and associated supply cassettes, free of charge, to NGOs, government agencies and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate drug and vaccine research to combat COVID-19.”

    HP’s announcement is just the latest example of cutting-edge technologies that are becoming mainstream as companies and governments look for inventive ways to fight the pandemic.

  • MediaTek and Intel Partner to Bring 5G to PCs

    MediaTek and Intel Partner to Bring 5G to PCs

    While 5G is just beginning to roll out and is only supported by a handful of phones, MediaTek and Intel have announced a partnership to bring the new technology to PCs.

    5G promises to be a revolutionary upgrade to the wireless experience, offering speeds measured in gigabits per second rather than megabits. Latency is also significantly better with the specification calling for ping between 1 and 4 milliseconds (ms), verses the 20 ms of 4G.

    It’s easy to understand why 5G would make an appealing addition to a PC as, in many cases, it would be substantially faster than a cable or DSL connection.

    “Our 5G modem for PCs, developed in partnership with Intel, is integral to making 5G accessible and available across home and mobile platforms,” said MediaTek President Joe Chen. “5G will usher in the next era of PC experiences, and working with Intel, an industry leader in computing, highlights MediaTek’s expertise in designing 5G technology for global markets. With this partnership, consumers will be able to browse, stream and game faster on their PCs, but we also expect them to innovate with 5G in ways we have not yet imagined.”

    “5G is poised to unleash a new level of computing and connectivity that will transform the way we interact with the world,” said Gregory Bryant, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group. “Intel’s partnership with MediaTek brings together industry leaders with deep engineering, system integration and connectivity expertise to deliver 5G experiences on the next generation of the world’s best PCs.”

    Dell and HP are the first manufacturers expected to release computers offering Intel and MediaTek’s 5G connectivity, with the first devices expected in early 2021.

  • Carly Fiorina Forgot to Register CarlyFiorina.org, and Now She’s Getting Trolled

    “Yes, I am running,” said former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina this morning on Good Morning America.” “I think I’m the best person for the job because I understand how the economy actually works. I understand the world; who’s in it.”

    Apparently, one of those people in the world is a little upset at Fiorina’s managerial maneuvers.

    Here’s what you’ll see if you head to carlyfiorina.org:

    …and after a lot of scrolling:

    If you’re running for president, it seems like one of the items on the ol’ checklist would have to be making sure all your domains were yours. Of course, you can’t safeguard against all domain squatters – but the big ones (your name.com, your name.org, etc) seem like a necessity.

    Luckily, carlyfiorina.com is hers.

    Fiorina is not the only Republican presidential candidate to have some domain problems. Ted Cruz didn’t lock up TedCruz.com, and now he’s getting trolled.

    Image via Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons

  • Meg Whitman Confident Despite HP Stagnation

    HP this week released its fourth quarter 2014 and fiscal 2014 full-year financial results. The company reported quarterly revenue of $28.4 billion, down 2% from fourth quarter 2013. Full-year revenue was reported to be $111.5 billion, down 1% year-over-year.

    HP’s lackluster 2014 financial results were not unexpected, and the company hit both its GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net share earnings targets ($2.62 and $3.74, respectively). Even so, investors will be wondering just what HP can do to grow revenue and compete in a tech market increasingly dominated by the likes of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.

    HP CEO Meg Whitman exuded confidence in a statement accompanying the financials. She commented that the company’s revenue is now “stabilized” and reassured investors that “accelerated progress” will be seen next year.

    “I’m excited to say that HP’s turnaround continues on track,” said Whitman. “In FY14, we stabilized our revenue trajectory, strengthened our operations, showed strong financial discipline, and once again made innovation the cornerstone of our company. Our product roadmaps are the best they’ve been in years and our partners and customers believe in us. There’s still a lot left to do, but our efforts to date, combined with the separation we announced in October, sets the stage for accelerated progress in FY15 and beyond.”

    The separation Whitman is referring to is HP’s recently announced plan to split into two companies. The newly created Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will focus on enterprise software and infrastructure sales, leaving HP’s older printing and computing operations to a company named HP Inc.

    HP’s Enterprise Services was one of its worst-performing divisions during fiscal 2014. HP Enterprise Services revenue was down 7% year-over-year and the company’s Enterprise Group sales were also down for the year, falling 4% compared to the division’s sales in fiscal 2013.

    Based on these results, it appears that Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will have significant challenges in the future. HP’s biggest recent leaps into the enterprise sector have turned out to be disasters. In the third quarter 2012, HP logged an $8 billion impairment charge related to its acquisition of IT services company Electronic Data Systems (EDS). The following quarter HP logged another huge $8.8 billion impairment charge related to what HP claimed was fraudulent accounting on the part of recently-acquired enterprise search and knowledge management services company Autonomy.

  • Meghan Trainor Releases Video For “Lips Are Movin”

    Meghan Trainor, the singer behind the hit song “All about That Bass”, has just released the video for her second single “Lips Are Movin’”. The song offers more than a few nods to “All about That Bass”, from the instrumentation, the songwriting, and even a couple of lyrical send-ups to her debut single. The video features Trainor singing and dancing in front of colorful backgrounds. The singer talked about the video with MTV News when they interviewed her during the shoot.

    Trainor says, “This video is going to be awesome because it’s not just a story or a theme of ‘here’s a boy and here’s me and me yelling at him.’ It’s like, ‘Here’s me being sassy and other people dancing with me and having just a good time and trying to get through this feeling of, Ugh he’s cheating on me again.’ Like, ‘I know you’re lying, but that’s OK because I’m gonna find the next guy. I’m good.’”

    Meghan also teamed up with HP to get some of the biggest superstars in social media sites like Vine, Youtube, and Instagram to help make the video. “I love HP for doing this with me. It’s the first time any artist has done this, which is pretty risky,” Trainor said about the collaboration. The internet stars were involved in the video in various capacities, from appearing in cameos to helping out with the choreography and the production.

    “We have all these beautiful sets here. We have different colors and I usually wear all black-on-black because I don’t like a lot of colors,” Trainor said. “But I thought this was so cute and fun and my blonde hair looks great with pink behind me, so I think it will be fun.”

    Trainor will be releasing her debut album, Title, on January 13. The record will also feature “All about That Bass”, which has spent 18 weeks so far on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

    Click on YouTube link to see actual video.

  • HP 3D Printers: Multi Jet Fusion Coming in 2016

    Like many PC manufacturers HP has been struggling in recent years. As consumers began to embrace portable computing devices such as smartphones and tablets, PC makers have seen sales of desktop and notebook PCs dwindle.

    When HP’s mobile device initiatives failed to have a significant impact on sales the company put its focus on the enterprise solutions market and big data. This led to the purchase of both EDS and Autonomy, companies that would eventually cost HP billions in lost revenue.

    Now HP is looking toward the future and has a plan to revive its printing business. The company recently announced that it is developing a 3D printing platform called the HP Multi Jet Fusion. The technology is part of HP’s “Blended Reality ecosystem,” which also includes an “immersive computing platform” named Sprout.

    “We are on the cusp of a transformative era in computing and printing,” said Dion Weisler, EVP for Printing & Personal Systems at HP. “Our ability to deliver Blended Reality technologies will reduce the barriers between the digital and physical worlds, enabling us to express ourselves at the speed of thought – without filters, without limitations. This ecosystem opens up new market categories that can define the future, empowering people to create, interact, and inspire like never before.”

    HP stated that it is committed to developing a 3D printing platform that will become an industry standard. It hopes to do this by improving on the speed and quality of current 3D printers while also reducing costs.

    The Multi Jet Fusion’s rollout will involve HP working with its current 3D printing customers to improve the device. The company will focus primarily on commercial 3D printing applications and expects to distribute its new platform more widely starting in 2016.

    “As we examined the existing 3D print market, we saw a great deal of potential but also saw major gaps in the combination of speed, quality, and cost,” said Stephen Nigro, SVP of Inkjet and Graphic Solutions at HP. “HP Multi Jet Fusion is designed to transform manufacturing across industries by delivering on the full potential of 3D printing with better quality, increased productivity, and break-through economics.”

  • HP Is Breaking Up Into Two Companies

    Last week, it was eBay announcing a break-up of its business with eBay and PayPal becoming two separate public companies. This week, it’s HP.

    Hewlett-Packard announced that it too will split up into two public companies – Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and HP Inc. The former will focus on servers, storage, networking, converged systems, services, software, and its OpenStack Helion cloud platform. The latter will focus on personal systems and printing, including 3D printing as well as other “new computing experiences”.

    Meg Whitman will be President and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise with Pat Russo serving as Chairman of the Board. Dion Weisler will be President and CEO of HP Inc. Whitman will be chairman of that board.

    Whitman said, “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, while generating long-term value for shareholders. In short, by transitioning now from one HP to two new companies, created out of our successful turnaround efforts, we will be in an even better position to compete in the market, support our customers and partners, and deliver maximum value to our shareholders.”

    “Over the past three years, we have reignited our innovation engine with breakthrough offerings for the enterprise like Apollo, Gen 9 and Moonshot servers, our 3PAR storage platform, our HP OneView management platform, our HP Helion Cloud and a host of software and services offerings in security, analytics and application transformation,” she said. “Hewlett Packard Enterprise will accelerate innovation across key next-generation areas of the portfolio.”

    “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,” Whitman added. “The creation of HP Inc. will only accelerate the progress the team has made.”

    The separation transaction will be tax-free to shareholders for federal income tax purposes, the company says. The transaction is expected to close by the end of fiscal 2015. It still needs to be approved by the Board of Directors.

    In addition to the split, the company lifted its number of expected layoffs from between 45,000 and 50,000 to 55,000.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Chubby Checker, HP Settle the Most Important Penis-Centric App Lawsuit of Our Time

    And a nation exhales.

    A lawsuit, brought against HP by rock and roll pioneer and world-famous Twister Chubby Checker, has been settled. The saga is over.

    In a case that was quite possibly constructed via Mad Libs, Chubby Checker sued HP in February of last year, claiming that the company had violated his trademark and associated it with “obscene, sexual connotation and images.”

    Chubby Checker was incensed about ‘The Chubby Checker,’ a now-defunct app for Palm OS that allowed people to estimate the size of a man’s penis based on his shoe size. Chubby Checker didn’t take kindly to the app’s use of his name, stating that using ‘Chubby Checker’ as a way to, well, check chubbies, was a “vulgar pun.” This is HP’s problem because the company acquired Palm in 2010.

    Checker got around to filing his lawsuit nearly eight years after the app initially appeared. The Chubby Checker app was made available for Palm devices way back in 2006, and was reportedly still available as recently as 2012.

    During that time, The Chubby Checker app was downloaded fewer than 100 times.

    According to Reuters, HP has agreed not to “make future use of his stage name, likeness or related trademarks.” It’s unknown at this time whether or not any money was actually paid out.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • HP to Pay $108 Million Over Bribery and Money Laundering Charges

    Hewlett-Packard this week agreed to pay $108 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice to settle money laundering and bribery charges. The charges were brought against HP for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to the charges, the company’s subsidiaries provided substantial bribes to officials in foreign countries to secure IT contracts.

    “Hewlett-Packard lacked the internal controls to stop a pattern of illegal payments to win business in Mexico and Eastern Europe,” said Kara Brockmeyer, chief of the FCPA Unit of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “The company’s books and records reflected the payments as legitimate commissions and expenses. Companies have a fundamental obligation to ensure that their internal controls are both reasonably designed and appropriately implemented across their entire business operations, and they should take a hard look at the agents conducting business on their behalf.”

    Three of HP’s subsidiaries in Mexico, Poland, and Russia were implicated by an SEC-led investigation.

    In Mexico HP was found to have funneled at least $125,000 through a state-owned oil company to a consultant in exchange for help in winning a $6 million government contract. According to the SEC, HP Mexico salespersons referred to this payment as an “influencer fee.”

    In Poland, HP bribed a government official from 2006 to 2010 in exchange for securing IT contracts. The Polish official was paid, in off-the-books cash, a percentage of the revenues earned through the contracts.

    In Russia HP paid bribes to agents and consultants to secure government hardware and software contracts. This occurred between 2000 and 2007.

    HP released a statement this week characterizing the bribery and money laundering as the work of a small number of already-fired employees. The company emphasized that it will comply with its obligations under the terms of the settlement.

    “The misconduct described in the settlement was limited to a small number of people who are no longer employed by the company,” said John Schultz, EVP and general counsel, at HP. “HP fully cooperated with both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in the investigation of these matters and will continue to provide customers around the world with top quality products and services without interruption.”

    As part of the settlement, HP has admitted to violating the internal controls and books and records provisions of the Securities Exchange Act. The company will pay $26.47 million to the SEC, $2.53 million in IRS forfeiture, $5 million in prejudgement interest, and multiple fines totaling $74.2 million.

    Image via HP

  • HP Unveils New Hybrid Tablet/Notebook

    HP Unveils New Hybrid Tablet/Notebook

    HP has recently shifted its business to focus more on its enterprise software and security offerings but the company still has its foot firmly planted in the PC hardware business. HP is now neck-and-neck with Lenovo for the title of largest notebook brand.

    HP today unveiled two new notebooks, one of which is the type of tablet/notebook hybrid devices that have proved popular with manufacturers over the past year and at this year’s CES. With the consumer market for PCs now turning to tablets, HP is aiming its new notebooks toward the business community.

    The HP Pro x2 410 is HP’s latest 2-in-1 tablet/notebook. The device features an 11.6″ screen that can detach and be used as a tablet. Though HP did not state the resolution of this tablet/screen, the company has referred to it as HD. The tablet/screen also sports cameras on both its front and back sides.

    The HP 350 G1 is the first in a line of products that HP is calling ” budget-friendly” business notebooks. The device is not a hybrid tablet/notebook is being positioned as “affordable” for the small business market. Though low in price, the 350 G1 has the option to add-on features such as a fingerprint scanner or a higher performance Intel processor and AMD graphics processor.

    HP is now selling both the Pro x2 410 and the 350 G1 in the U.S. The company estimates that the notebooks will sell for $899 and $399, respectively.

  • PC Shipments Continued to Decline Over the Holidays

    It’s a brand new year, but the story is largely the same for PC manufacturers. Much like last year, PC shipments continued to decline during the all-important holiday sales quarter.

    Market research firm IDC this week released its PC shipment estimates for the fourth quarter of 2013 and the industry has declined, as expected. The firm estimates that PC shipments during the fourth quarter were down 5.6% from the fourth quarter of 2012 – a significant contraction, though one that doesn’t quite hit IDC’s initial prediction of a 6% shipment decline.

    “The PC market again came in very close to expectations, but unfortunately failed to significantly change the trajectory of growth,” said Loren Loverde, VP of Worldwide PC Trackers at IDC. “Total shipments have now declined for seven consecutive quarters, and even the holiday shopping season was unable to inspire a turn in consumer spending. Although U.S. growth slipped a little in the fourth quarter, other regions all improved, reinforcing our view that growth rates will continue to improve gradually during 2014 despite remaining in negative territory.”

    IDC estimates that PC industry shipments as a whole declined 10% from those seen in 2012. This continuing decline demonstrates just how aggressively the tablet industry is growing and a shift in consumer needs to relatively low-priced mobile devices.

    Though HP did manage to take back its market share lead from Lenovo during the third quarter of 2013, the company saw an over 8% shipment decline during the holiday quarter. Lenovo, on the other hand, saw 9% year-over-year shipment growth and led the PC industry with over 15 million units shipped.

    “In the United States, market leader HP had a difficult quarter, contracting -12.3% year on year as the market slowed following an HP surge in the third quarter,” said Rajani Singh, senior research analyst for Personal Computing at IDC. “However, Asian majors like Lenovo and Samsung achieved strong double-digit growth, driven partly by a modest commercial uptick and partly due to retail acceptance of their emerging product categories, such as Chromebooks.

  • Laptop Deals: Top 10 Black Friday Laptop Deals

    Laptop Deals: Top 10 Black Friday Laptop Deals

    There are only two more days until the shoppers will be bombarding their local retail stores in search of the year’s best deals. One of the main items on people’s lists this year is laptops. If you are planning on going on the hunt for a new laptop, we have the top 10 best deals for Black Friday.

    I4U.com has compiled a list of the best prices on laptops for you Black Friday shoppers.

    1. $177.99 Dell Inspiron I15RV-1952BLK at Best Buy
    2. $178 HP 2000-2D09WM notebook at Walmart
    3. $199 Dell Inspiron 15 at Dell
    4. $248 11.6-inch Acer Touch-Screen Laptop at Walmart
    5. $299.99 Dell Inspiron 15 Core i3 Laptop at Dell
    6. $300 15-inch Asus touchscreen laptop at Best Buy
    7. $349.99 Toshiba Core i3 Laptop bundle at Best Buy
    8. $349.99 HP Pavilion 17.3″ AMD Elite Quad-Core A8 at Office Max
    9. $499.99 HP Split x2 at Best Buy
    10. $799.99 HP Envy TouchSmart 17.3″ Core i7 at Best Buy

    Many of the stores participating in the Black Friday extravaganza have limited quantities of the laptops listed, and some people are already camping out in front of the stores to try to get the one-day deals. That’s right…the weather hasn’t stopped those die hard shoppers. If you choose not to fight the crowd and want to search for good deals at home, online retailers, such as Amazon, will be offering discounts on their laptops as well.

    If you do choose to go shopping on Friday, be careful and good luck!

    [Image via Twitter]

  • HP Reports Positive Earnings For Fiscal Year 2013

    Following a series of dismal earning reports, HP is finally showing signs that it is on the right track. The company today announced its fourth quarter results along with its fiscal year 2013 results.

    During the fourth quarter HP managed to take in just over $29 billion. Though this number is 3% lower than its fourth quarter 2012 revenue, the company’s drastic cost-cutting measures over the past year seem to have paid off. HP’s net earnings for the fourth quarter total $1.4 billion, a massive increase over the nearly $7 billion loss HP recorded during the fourth quarter 2012.

    It must be pointed out, however, that one year ago HP logged an $8.8 billion impairment charge for the declined value of its Autonomy division. HP accused Autonomy’s former management of accounting fraud and a series of lawsuits stemming from that allegation not yet been settled.

    HP’s yearly earnings have followed a similar pattern, with layoffs (29,000 of them) helping to raise earnings despite lower revenue. The absence of billion-dollar write-downs from EDS and Autonomy were also instrumental in raising profit into the black. HP recorded $112.3 billion in revenue this fiscal year, down around 7% from its $120.4 billion taken in fiscal year 2012. Earnings reached $5.1 billion, putting to shame last year’s $12.7 billion fiscal year loss.

    “Through improved execution, strong cost management, and with the support of our customers and partners, HP ended fiscal 2013 on a high note,” said Meg Whitman, CEO of HP. “Our Q4 results demonstrate that HP’s turnaround remains on track heading into fiscal 2014. While we still have much more work to do, our business units and their core assets are delivering on HP’s strategy to help customers thrive by providing solutions for the new style of IT.”

    All of this combines into enough of a good sign that investors seem to be a bit more confident about HP’s future. The company’s stock has risen over 8% in trading today and appears to be remaining steady near a $27 price point.