HP Split Is Official

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More than a year after announcing the split, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has separated into two companies as of Nov. 1, one focused on outfitting enterprises with business-critical IT systems and the other anchored by the company’s PC and printer offerings.

The move marks a major turning point for the storied Silicon Valley IT pioneer. HP was famously founded 76 years ago in a Palo Alto garage by David Packard and William Hewlett. Today, the HP Garage is a landmark that symbolizes technology entrepreneurship.

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ), headed by president and CEO Dion Weisler, sells PCs, devices, printers and managed-print services. The Fortune 100 company, with an estimated $55 billion in annual revenue, also plans to tackle the burgeoning 3D printing and immersive computing markets.

Online, visitors to HP.com today are greeted with a message directing those seeking business products to Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

According to Weisler, HP Inc. will rekindle the startup spirit. “In an ever-changing, connected world, HP Inc. will keep reinventing itself, its technologies and what tomorrow holds, so industries, communities and individuals can keep reinventing how they operate, ideate and create what matters the most to them,” he said in a statement. Prior to heading the former HP’s PC and printer business in Asia Pacific and Japan, Weisler held top positions at Lenovo, Telstra and Acer.

“We intend to amaze through the people we hire, the technology we create, the experiences we enable and the way we treat our customers and each other. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to spark a flame that could change the world forever,” Weisler added.

Meg Whitman, former CEO of HP, takes the reigns of newly-formed Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) as its president and CEO. The company, with an estimated $53 billion in annual sales, will focus on traditional IT servers and systems, cloud computing, analytics, data security and productivity solutions.

Whitman commemorated the occasion by ringing the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) opening bell this morning on Wall Street. Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s new logo, a green rectangular outline, was draped in front of the iconic NYSE building in New York City.

“The winners in today’s market will be those who apply the power of technology to fuel the power of ideas, and the new Hewlett Packard Enterprise is built to accelerate this journey for customers,” said Whitman in a statement. “Hewlett Packard Enterprise has the vision, financial resources and flexibility to help customers win while generating growth and long-term value for our shareholders.”

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.