HP will split into two companies according to reports

The legendary Hewlett-Packard reportedly is about to
become two companies.
One will focus on the firm’s personal computer and
printer business, and the other on its business hardware
and services, according to a story in today’s Wall Street
Journal.
The publication, citing “people familiar with the matter,”
said the split may be made public as early as tomorrow.
The Journal said that current CEO Meg Whitman will
become CEO of the enterprise-oriented company, and
independent director Patricia Russo will be chairman.
Whitman will serve as chairman of the PC/printer firm,
and exec Dion Weisler will be CEO.
HP has been struggling with its dual selves of being
oriented toward businesses’ high-end needs and toward
personal computers and printers. Various company
executives have in the past discussed spinning off its
PC unit, only to be followed by the company asserting
its long-term interest in PCs.
In 2000, Agilent Technologies split off from HP, taking
with it the test and measurement equipment business
that was HP’s first line of business.
The company had long reigned as the top PC maker in
the world, although it dropped to second place last year
in the rankings of industry research firm IDC, after
Lenovo. Its printer/personal systems group rakes in
about $56 billion in fiscal 2013, about half the
company’s total, but sales are down about seven
percent from the previous year.
Via the Wall Street Journal