On Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard Co rearranged its executives, reappointing a star official to a new role that would identify possible acquisitions. The streamlining transpired as the world's biggest personal computer manufacturer posted a bigger-than-expected plunge in revenue and forecasted zero sales growth in 2014.
HP has been undertaking a radical reshaping under CEO Meg Whitman in the past two years. The company aimed to escape the slide in personal computer sales as smartphones and tablets continued to revolutionize computing. Whitman said growth in fiscal 2014 was possible but unlikely considering the Enterprise Group and PC segment's poor performance.
"My read was that fiscal 2014 growth was a stretch goal rather than a baseline assumption," FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyrafi, said. "That has become more challenging."
Whitman replaced Dave Donatelli with Bill Veghte as the head of the Enterprise Division. Veghte immediately took over and would not be replaced a HP's COO. Donatelli relinquished his position as the chief of the unit. He would focus on finding early-stage technologies for potential investments.
HP reported a revenue of USD27.2 billion, down from 2012's USD29.7 billion. Its overall income was USD1.39 billion or 71 US cents per share. Its shares plunged by over 5% to USD24.07 in the after hours trading session in New York Stock Exchange.
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