Published in News

HP CEO rumours are killing the outfit

by on22 September 2011


Ovum says get it over with
Rumours that HP is about to remove its CEO Leo Apotheker are doing some serious damage to the company, according to the analysts at Ovum.

Ovum chief analyst Carter Lusher said that regardless of whether or not the rumour is correct or not, the damage has already been done. “This rumour and any actual action that the board might make only reinforces that HP is a company that is in severe disarray,” he said, That the board would be considering a change in CEO less that 10 months after Apotheker took over as CEO is a damning indictment of not just the new CEO, but also the board itself, Lusher added.

Having approved the recent strategy changes, it seems spineless for the board just a month later to be potentially jettisoning that plan and its architect. He said that periods of turmoil at major vendors are never good for the company, the employees, and most especially the customers.

“The employees at HP are demoralized after 13 years of severe cost cutting, layoffs, and drama so it is possible that key executives and staff are getting ready to leave or are mentally out the door,” Lusher said.

If Apotheker is fired then investors would start demand that the company be broken up to unlock the value of the components, leading to even more uncertainty. Even if the Board sees sense and appoints former eBay CEO and current HP board member Meg Whitman a an interim replacement for Apotheker, it will little for the confidence of HP’s enterprise customers.

“Whitman’s expertise lies primarily in the consumer market, and an interim leader will just prolong the sense of uncertainty,” Lusher said.

Rate this item
(1 Vote)