HP Prefers to Spin Off PC Business [Hewlett-Packard Says They Prefer to Spin Off PC Business as a Separate Unit; Currently Working on Due Diligence]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Tuesday, 30. August 2011 under: Computers & Computing, PCs, Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

HP’s announcement that it plans to focus on enterprise services had people wondering what exactly will happen to its PC manufacturing unit, which has been its main source of revenue until recently. Aside from its plans to drop support for webOS, HP says the company prefers to spin off the PC business into another entity.

HP is currently the world’s largest tech company in terms of revenue. But when it announced its Autonomy acquisition, this came with an announcement that HP will be leaving the PC and mobile business. Speculations have arisen as to what HP wants exactly, such as an outright sale of its hardware-related assets. But recently, the company itself says it prefers to spin off its PC business into a separate entity.

A spokesperson for HP has recently stated that the company is currently working on due diligence for a possible spin-off. “We prefer a spin-off as a separate company and the working hypotheses is that a spin-off will be in the best interests of HP’s shareholders, customers and employees,” she says. The company understands the potential dis-synergy from this process, which will likely undervalue the company once spun-off, as compared to running a PC business alongside its enterprise services business.

The entire spin-off process will take anywhere from a year to a year and a half, but HP expects to make a final decision before the year ends. Meanwhile, HP is also exploring options for its investment in webOS, which is likely to be sold off to another company.