HP/Compaq merger going well, says Fiorina
Carly Fiorina says HP's merger with Compaq is going well, and that HP is ready to market the combined company to customers
Link: Hewlett Packard COO makes gloomy IT forecast
Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina has said that its high-profile merger with Compaq is going well, and that the combined company isnow ready to actively win the hearts and minds of customers.
Speaking at an analyst meeting in Santa Barbara, Fiorina said the company had reached most of its integration targets for the combined company and was back on the offensive in the battle for both corporate and consumer customers.
According to the Mercury News, Fiorina said HP was doing better than expectedon trimming $2.5bn in costs and was ready to take aim at rivals such as IBM and Dell.
‘We are now prepared and ready to take the offensive in the marketplace,’she said.
Fiorina said HP’s internal tracking of customer deals showed it was winningabout two-thirds of its deals when in competition with Sun and IBM.
She added that the company is on track to meet or exceed its goal ofeliminating 10,000 jobs by the end of the month, with more cuts due over the next fiscal year.
HP is aiming to restore profits in its enterprise and consumer-focusedcomputer divisions, and will shift even more of its resources to directsales of computers rather than through resellers.
However Fiorina failed to offer any upbeat assessments of a recovery incorporate spending.
She expected nominal, or single-digit, growth in IT spending in 2003 and cited a September survey by Goldman Sachs that showed 51 per cent of IT managers expected their budgets to shrink next year.