Tuesday, July 16, 2013

stories abound right now -- how about this HP phone

Emulation, copycatters, con=unterfeiters, whatever.... get a load of this story:

Jul 16, 2013, 1:29pm PDT

Hewlett-Packard: That's not the 'droid we're working on

This is not a real HP phone concept. Sorry folks.

Enlarge

Phone Arena

This is not a real HP phone concept. Sorry folks.

Jon Xavier: Web Producer-Silicon Valley Business Journal; Email | Twitter | Google+

You may have seen the rumors recently that Hewlett-Packard, after a long on-again, off-again relationship with mobile devices, is finally working on its own smartphone, and that it's chosen to back the winner: Android.

There's even pictures floating around of an Android-powered HP concept device, which is supposedly code named Brave and set to hit the market sometime next year.

Unfortunately, those photos are fake.

In a statement today, an HP spokespersontold Business Insider that the supposed renderings floating around online aren't of anything it has in the works.

"Someone is making stuff up," the spokesman said.

Probably the biggest give away that it's not a real HP device is that it basically looks like an iPhone body with the HP logo and Android superimposed onto it. Also, note to future hoaxsters: Avoid the crappy Photoshop lens flare filter if you want to look legit.

All that isn't to say that HP isn't working on a new phone, it's just not this one. CEOMeg Whitman has made it pretty clear that smartphones are not an area that she feels the company can afford to ignore, although she said a new HP handset wouldn't be coming before 2014 at the earliest.

The big question still is what OS would be powering that phone. HP already has both Android and Windows 8-powered devices on the market, and it still technically owns the services layer of the open source Palm WebOS, so it's anyone's guess.

And this story didn't crater the stock

Hewlett-Packard loses crown as top personal computer manufacturer

By Jeremy C. Owens, San Jose Mercury News

Posted: 07/11/2013 05:34:26 AM MDT

PALO ALTO -- Hewlett-Packard's reign as the world's largest manufacturer of personal computers came to an end in the second quarter of 2013, two analysis firms independently reported Wednesday.

Tracking firms IDC and Gartner released their preliminary quarterly results for the PC industry, and both analyses showed that Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo shipped more computers in the recently completed three-month period than HP, which has held the crown as the largest PC maker since at least 2006. Both reports showed Lenovo's shipments outpacing HP's by more than 200,000 units, and they tracked roughly 12.4 million shipments in the quarter. HP's year-over-year decline was greater in IDC's report, which showed a 7.7 percent decrease; Gartner reported a 4.8 percent loss.

"We don't like being number two and we don't plan to stay there," a Hewlett-Packard spokeswoman said Wednesday. "We have a multi OS, multi architecture and multi form factor computing strategy that we believe will delight customers and rebuild share. We're also focused on building a profitable business that's smart about its future."

Overall, the reports continued to show a decline in the PC industry, though there were optimistic findings. IDC reported global shipments of 75.6 million units in the quarter, an 11.4 percent decline from the same quarter in 2012, slightly better than the company's forecast.

IDC executive Bob O'Donnell said in Wednesday's announcement that shipment numbers are starting to stabilize along with the average life span of consumers' personal computers, which had been steadily increasing.

"The end result should be more PC replacements, even if consumers and companies are selective in making replacements and wait until PCs are older before replacing them," O'Donnell said.

Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa noted that shipments in the United States experienced an 8.5 percent sequential gain from the first quarter, with enterprise sales possibly boosted by the end of Microsoft's support for Windows XP. She also threw some cold water on the theory that displeasure with Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8, was at the core of the PC market's troubles.

"While Windows 8 has been blamed by some as the reason for the PC market's decline, we believe this is unfounded as it does not explain the sustained decline in PC shipments, nor does it explain Apple's market performance," Kitagawa said.

Apple's total PC shipments -- which do not include the company's popular iPad tablets -- did not register in the top six PC companies for global production. The Cupertino company, the only major PC manufacturer that does not mostly rely on Microsoft's operating system, shipped 1.74 million PCs in the United States, a decline of 4.3 percent, according to Gartner; IDC reported Apple's total as 1.81 million, a 0.5 percent annual decrease.

Hewlett-Packard stock was not affected by Wednesday's news, with shares reaching their highest intraday price in the past year. HP reached a 52-week high of $26.71 before closing with a 1.8 percent advance at $25.93. Other firms with solid footholds in the PC industry also gained: Santa Clara chip giant Intel increased 0.5 percent to $23.25, Microsoft gained 1 percent to $34.70

Positive Spin re New Directors

Not all the news is skeptical. Surprisingly, "The Motley Fool" is upbeat about the new board members:

Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ)’s Board of Directors Gets Some New Blood

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) took one much-needed step in the right direction today. HP's boardroom just gained three new regulars, and it's a high-quality

infusion of new blood.

HP's board of directors

is often held up as an example of terrible corporate governance. In 2011, ethics and governance expert Nell Minow wondered, "Could there be a worse board?" The company added one director the next month: activist fund manager Ralph Whitworth. Four directors left the board in 2012, including the entire nominating committee that made Leo Apotheker CEO. Otherwise, this group of error-prone directors has remained static since Ms. Minow hung them out to dry.

But today, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE

:HPQ) finally added some fresh talent to the boardroom. They're not just some no-name fund-managers and also-rans, either; these are three proven winners who may in fact shake up HP's rudderless operations.

Meet the new faces These names should be familiar to many investors, but let's do a quick rundown of their qualifications anyhow.

Ray Ozzie is a legend of software development. He launched Lotus Notes long before IBM

acquired that productivity toolkit and made it central to Big Blue's software strategy. At Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), he championed cloud computing and social media before it was cool. Ozzie took over the role of chief software architect when Bill Gates retired, leaving day-to-day CEO-type operations to Steve Ballmer.

With Ozzie in the boardroom, I wouldn't be surprised to see him nudging the company deeper into software and services, much like Apotheker once did. The big difference this time is that Ozzie comes with much stronger credentials: Apotheker ran a not-particularly-strong operation at SAP; Ozzie, the world's largest software machine. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) CEO

Meg Whitman could use someone with a clear vision who isn't afraid to correct the boss when necessary.

Robert "Dob" Bennett was CEO of Liberty Interactive (Interactive group) (NASDAQ:LINTA) from 1997 to 2005. He steered the Internet-leaning company through the dot-com bust and came out stronger. Under Bennett's leadership, Liberty Interactive grew annual sales from $1.2 billion to $7.6 billion. He's been known to stand up to Liberty chairman John Malone on occasion, and he still serves as a board member or executive in several of Liberty Interactive 's offshoots.

So here's another software and services expert with some experience in pushing back against corporate bigwigs. Put this character together with Ray Ozzie, and I smell sparks flying in the boardroom.

Jim Skinner is the least controversial, but perhaps the most impressive, of Hewlett-Packard's new board members. Skinner spent 41 years at McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD), including eight years as CEO. Average shareholder returns under his guidance were an eye-popping 21%, thanks to his focus on "being better, not just bigger." Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) could sure use a generous dose of that mind-set.

After retiring from Mickey D's, Skinner took the chairman's throne for convenience-store giant
Walgreens. Almost exactly one year later, Walgreen shares have soared 60% higher, absolutely crushing the Dow Jones' historic 20% run. It's hard to pin that rush directly on Skinner's appointment, but his presence clearly doesn't hurt.

The impact on HP Between these three names, Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) gains the following: Two former CEOs of S&P 500

companies, including one Dow leader. Ozzie is the holdout here with "only" a senior leadership role at Dow component Microsoft (but that always seemed like half of Bill Gates' old baton, the other half having been passed to Steve Ballmer).

- Three proven winners with strong opinions on how to run a large-scale business

. None of these three will back down from a challenge if he sees things going wrong at HP.

- Something like 80 years' worth of top-level management

experience.

The article HP's Board of Directors Gets Some New Blood originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Anders Bylund.

New directors besides Ozzie

Whooee, look at the excitement in the press: here's the immediate outcry, this one from Dylan Tweeney at CloudBeat:

"Let’s look at the other two directors that HP appointed today: Robert Dennett, the former president of Discovery Holding Group and, before that, president and CEO of Liberty Media; and James Skinner, the former CEO of McDonald’s and current chairman of Walgreen Co. In other words, a media guy and a retail/fast food guy

"I’m no expert on corporate board selection processes, but this looks like exactly the kind of corporate boardroom mutual admiration society that HP decidedly does not need. Ozzie is the only one of the three directors appointed today who has technology industry experience, and his experience is in software, not in hardware, infrastructure, and consulting services, where HP’s strength lies. What’s more, his main accomplishments in the past 8 years have been writing memos.

"HP badly needs to refocus on its technologies and its mission, especially after its failed $10 billion acquisition of Autonomy led to the disgrace and departure of former chairman Ray Lane. But unless I’m deeply mistaken, the company is not going to get that from these three directors. I’d like to think Ozzie can help turn the ship around, but I’m not hopeful.

In other words, HP thinks it needs deep techie cred at the highest levels, and Ozzie provides a bit more of that. But his appointment means the company hasn’t yet figured out what it really needs.

New Board member Ray Ozzie

HP is still able to recruit Board members -- apparently six meetings a year for $325,000 (a pretty good hourly rate) is enough to induce some folk to put up with the critical press coverage -- and who knows, at some point the press might turn positive even.

This time, a proven technology veteran has been recruited, to join two "suits" as the old sniggers would have it.

Ray Ozzie, an inveterate creative type, and inventor of Notes among other things, has joined.

The problem that Ozzie has had over the years, though, has been a near-total inability to get either IBM or Microsoft to listen to him. IBM bought his Lotus Notes product and company, but his role at Big Blue never seemed to bear fruit. He sold another company, Groove, to Microsoft to put more punch-up into their software; it basically was a failed product for them. Then, for a short year, he was Bill Gates' "replacement" as Chief Software Officer. Nothing happened from that, or if he did so, the plaudits that arose seemed muted at best. And Ozzie was an employee at both of these giant companies.

Ozzie comes now to HP, a company still larger than either of the above two, and a company that has turned a deaf ear to software far longer than IBM. And he comes as a board member, rather than in an operational role, so what's the odds that Ozzie can help?

Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry noted that Ozzie should prove especially valuable in helping HP get into new tech markets. But Chowdhry said he believes venture capitalist Marc Andreessen should quit the HP board to minimize the concern that he might influence HP to buy companies in which his own firm has invested.

Interesting charge, that last one. If Andreaseen has some 'hot companies' in his portfolio, maybe he can at least get HP to consider some of them. My guess though is that Marc's investments are much more in the 'personal' or 'crowd sourcing' or 'entertainment' arenas, which is the case for most of the VC money, whereas HP expenditures have been largely in the enterprise and infrastructure realm. Hardly any cross-over there, so I'm not too worried about conflict of interest.

I do worry that Andreassen is 'older' than the current crop of kids inventing new companies; Ozzie is positively neanderthal in that regard. But both are better than Ronald McDonald learnings or Walgreens, don't you think? As one ex-staffer penned me -- "now we can finally imagine commoditizing all the rest of the employees"

HP Phenomenon