HP CEO: Apple likely to take away PC leadership position next year
HP's new chief executive Meg Whitman told journalists Apple was doing "a great job" and that her company's once much smaller rival could likely pass HP to become the world's leading PC maker next year.
When asked by French newspaper Le Figaro if she agreed with the Canalys forecast predicting that Apple's sales of Macs and iPads would make it the leading PC vendor in 2012, Whitman directly answered "Yes."
She added (via Google translation), "I think it's possible if you integrate the shelves. Apple makes a great job. We need to improve our game and our products to take over the leadership position. Apple could go past HP in 2012. We will try to become the champion in 2013. It takes time for the products on which I have come to influence the market."
Whitman also noted that she devoted two teams of 100 employees in total to study whether or not to spin off or sell HP's Personal Systems Group that builds PCs, a decision that eventually resulted in HP announcing that it would keep the PSG in place.
A separate decision on the fate of HP's webOS will come within the next two weeks, Whitman added, noting that HP still has a team of 600 employees "in limbo" waiting for an answer. AppleInsider previously reported expectations within HP that a decision could come this week.
Asked if tablet computers were comparable to PCs, Whitman answered that they weren't yet, noting that tablets are mainly used to "consume media and emails," and that they can not run "productivity software such as Microsoft."
"Our studies show that this is an additional purchase that does not encroach on the PC market," Whitman said, refuting the iPad's until now uncontroversial impact on the PC market. "This is an important area on which we want to go," she added.
Interestingly, HP beat Apple's iPad to market last year with its Slate PC running Windows 7, a device that could run Microsoft's Office software. However, the market largely ignored the HP Slate PC (and other tablet devices running Windows 7) and HP abandoned the product as it shifted its development resources toward building this year's webOS-powered TouchPad, which also failed to find interest in the market.
Whitman has since indicated that HP's future tablet strategy will return to using Microsoft's Windows 8, which is expected to be available at the end of next year. Microsoft is also rumored to be hedging its tablet bets by bringing its Office software to the iPad, where Apple's own iWork apps exist as top selling productivity software in the App Store.
When asked by French newspaper Le Figaro if she agreed with the Canalys forecast predicting that Apple's sales of Macs and iPads would make it the leading PC vendor in 2012, Whitman directly answered "Yes."
She added (via Google translation), "I think it's possible if you integrate the shelves. Apple makes a great job. We need to improve our game and our products to take over the leadership position. Apple could go past HP in 2012. We will try to become the champion in 2013. It takes time for the products on which I have come to influence the market."
Whitman also noted that she devoted two teams of 100 employees in total to study whether or not to spin off or sell HP's Personal Systems Group that builds PCs, a decision that eventually resulted in HP announcing that it would keep the PSG in place.
A separate decision on the fate of HP's webOS will come within the next two weeks, Whitman added, noting that HP still has a team of 600 employees "in limbo" waiting for an answer. AppleInsider previously reported expectations within HP that a decision could come this week.
Asked if tablet computers were comparable to PCs, Whitman answered that they weren't yet, noting that tablets are mainly used to "consume media and emails," and that they can not run "productivity software such as Microsoft."
"Our studies show that this is an additional purchase that does not encroach on the PC market," Whitman said, refuting the iPad's until now uncontroversial impact on the PC market. "This is an important area on which we want to go," she added.
Interestingly, HP beat Apple's iPad to market last year with its Slate PC running Windows 7, a device that could run Microsoft's Office software. However, the market largely ignored the HP Slate PC (and other tablet devices running Windows 7) and HP abandoned the product as it shifted its development resources toward building this year's webOS-powered TouchPad, which also failed to find interest in the market.
Whitman has since indicated that HP's future tablet strategy will return to using Microsoft's Windows 8, which is expected to be available at the end of next year. Microsoft is also rumored to be hedging its tablet bets by bringing its Office software to the iPad, where Apple's own iWork apps exist as top selling productivity software in the App Store.
Comments
Only if iPads are counted as PCs, something the Apple hating blogs and analysts will spend their dying breaths to prevent. iPads are toys, not computers, or so it goes.
It doesn't really matter how those ignorant baboons classify iPads. The fact of the matter is that fewer and fewer people are buying PC's. I wonder why?
"Our studies show that this is an additional purchase that does not encroach on the PC market," Whitman said, refuting the iPad's until now uncontroversial impact on the PC market. "This is an important area on which we want to go," she added.
My comprehension must be slow today, but what does she mean by the "important area in which we want to go"!? Tablets? (Didn't they just get rid of it? Is HP planning to re-enter?) Or PCs? (They still have it, i.e., no 'going' required?).
600 sitting on webOS? At least they are not contributing to the unemployment stats.
Refreshing honesty, I admire her for saying that even if it is obvious, most of her peers have their heads in the sand and their spin machines spewing out whatever they can dream up to try to deflect from this.
You mean like Ballmer and his "Windows era everlasting" comment?
It doesn't really matter how those ignorant baboons classify iPads. The fact of the matter is that fewer and fewer people are buying PC's. I wonder why?
Because they didn't need a PC in the first place. Now they have the lesser alternatives they were lacking.
They need 200 employees to do that study?
600 sitting on webOS? At least they are not contributing to the unemployment stats.
It's a pretty big decision on both fronts-- multi-billion $$. As nice as it is to imagine decisions being led from the top, empirical information is better than a gut-check.
It would be a shame for HP to abandon WebOS altogether, but I think they stumbled just badly enough to make it a challenge for it to be the #2 or 3 player in the market.
My comprehension must be slow today, but what does she mean by the "important area in which we want to go"!? Tablets? (Didn't they just get rid of it? Is HP planning to re-enter?) Or PCs? (They still have it, i.e., no 'going' required?).
There and back again...
You mean like Ballmer and his "Windows era everlasting" comment?
Give him the benefit of the doubt, he was thinking casement windows.
Regardless of the sales volume, isn't Apple's profit margins on each Mac much higher than what HP makes per computer? Why else is HP trying to spin off its PC business?
I bet Apple make more on an iPad let alone a Mac than HP do on a typical PC.
Prior to the iPad if the extent of your computer activities extended to you surfing the Internet, using email, playing an occasional game, and writing documents, you would need to get a PC (Mac or otherwise). Now with the iPad if you only do those limited things, you don't need a PC. An iPad works.
Because they didn't need a PC in the first place. Now they have the lesser alternatives they were lacking.
Because they didn't need a PC in the first place. Now they have the lesser alternatives they were lacking.
Hardly lesser, an iPad2 blows away many a PC for many people.
But where meg is wrong is by saying it won't infringe on of sales. How about people that only consume email and surf the web. There are tens of thousands of those people.
My comprehension must be slow today, but what does she mean by the "important area in which we want to go"!? Tablets? (Didn't they just get rid of it? Is HP planning to re-enter?) Or PCs? (They still have it, i.e., no 'going' required?).
Meg is committed to re-entering the tablet market using an operating system from Microsoft... apparently.
But where meg is wrong is by saying it won't infringe on of sales. How about people that only consume email and surf the web. There are tens of thousands of those people.
And households that can now go from two PCs to a single PC and an iPad or two. Two households in my family have done just that in 2011.
Because they didn't need a PC in the first place. Now they have the lesser alternatives they were lacking.
People are probably going to hate that comment, but it's true. So many things we now take for granted once required a "PC" because that was the only option. 10 years ago, people were more likely to listen to music on CD than mp3. 15 years ago, PCs were mostly graphics and word processing unless you were doing something high end. Internet? That was mostly dialup and AOL. 20 years ago? Please. A PC was a glorified word processor running DOS.
On the other hand, the "personal computer" can't get much more personal than a tablet. And there's no way to suggest an iPad isn't a computer. But then, the question becomes: What is a computer? I mean, geez, look at how much tech is in a smartphone compared to what was in a 386.
If you read her comments, you'll notice Whitman isn't making any sense. And it doesn't seem to be the french.
That is my sense too.