Hewlett-Packard

Hewlett-Packard delivered a fourth quarter that was better-than-expected and allayed concerns about the company and whether it could stabilize the business amid uncertainty.

The company reported fourth quarter earnings of $239 million, or 12 cents a share, on earnings of $32.1 billion. In the year ago quarter, HP reported earnings of $2.5 billion, or $1.10 a share, on revenue of $33.3 billion. Non-GAAP earnings for the fourth quarter were $1.17 a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of $1.13 a share on revenue of $32.05 billion.

The non-GAAP figure for HP includes … Read more

Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch took to the stage of at Techonomy 2011 and gave a glimpse of some amazing stuff that phones and tablet cameras will soon be able to do.

Autonomy, which Hewlett Packard just acquired for almost $12 billion, bills itself as a leader in "meaning based computing," a tagline that's easy to dismiss. Then Lynch brought out an iPad to demonstrate Autonomy's technology, and he wowed the audience. And this was a jaded crowd, folks.

Lynch had an assistant hold up poster-size images--an ad for a Harry Potter move, a front page of … Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif.--More than four and a half years after a California judge effectively dismissed criminal charges against the major players in Hewlett-Packard's spying scandal, federal prosecutors are bringing the case back to life.

A father-and-son team of private investigators went before a judge today in the U.S. District Court in San Jose intending to plead guilty on charges relating to HP's controversial probe of boardroom leaks to journalists, which took place in late 2005 and early 2006.

Matthew DePante, 32, and his father Joseph DePante, 64, were arraigned last week on charges of conspiring to … Read more

Hewlett-Packard mulls what to do with WebOS, Asus unveils a powerful tablet, and Adobe ceases development of a Flash Player plug-in for mobile devices.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Despite reports that Hewlett-Packard was nearing an announcement regarding plans for its WebOS business, Meg Whitman is still undecided.

The company was reportedly expected to reveal the fate of its troubled mobile operating system this evening, but HP's recently installed chief executive officer told a company-wide meeting that a decision would not come for at least a few more weeks, according to a report on The Verge.

"It's really important to me to make the right decision, not the fast decision," Whitman reportedly told a room full of Palm and HP employees. "If HP decides to do this [to keep WebOS], we're going to do it in a very significant way over a multi year period."

HP representatives did not respond to a request for comment on the report. … Read more

Hewlett-Packard maybe ready to unveil the fate of its troubled mobile operating system, WebOS.

The company is planning an all-hands meeting tonight, led by newly installed CEO Meg Whitman, the Verge reported today. The company will likely share its plans for WebOS.

HP planned to unload its WebOS mobile platform business as part of a wider shift away from the consumer business. But even after the company opted to keep the PC unit, it persisted with its plans to shed WebOS. HP managed to introduce two smartphones and the TouchPad tablet before giving up on the business. All of the … Read more

A father-and-son team of private investigators was charged in federal court last week on charges of conspiracy to commit Social Security fraud in connection with Hewlett-Packard's 2006 spying scandal, a court representative confirmed today.

The charges filed Thursday against Matthew DePante and his father, Joseph DePante, in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., stem from allegations that HP had indirectly hired their Florida-based private investigation firm, Action Research Group--a subcontractor to another firm--to probe boardroom leaks to journalists, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

In what evolved into an embarrassing boardroom drama, HP came under fire for … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is considering a plan to unload its WebOS business in a deal that could net the company hundreds of millions of dollars, unidentified sources have told Reuters.

While Reuters doesn't identify who the potential buyer might be, it does note that the sales price would be well below the $1.2 billion that HP paid for Palm.

HP representatives did not respond to a request for comment on the report.

The mobile platform's future has been in limbo since then-CEO Leo Apotheker announced during an August earnings call that the company would discontinue operations for WebOS devices, … Read more

Barclays Capital has slashed its PC growth forecast for the fourth quarter due to the shortage of hard disk drives and continued weakness in the PC market, according to reports.

The investment bank cut its global PC growth forecast for the fourth quarter to 4.3 percent from 7.2 percent "due to continued weak demand and a shortage of hard drive disks (HDD) resulting from the flooding in Thailand," according to a number of Asia-based outlets such as the China Post, citing a Barclay's research note.

And the bank didn't stop there, lowering its full-year … Read more