HP Inc. is an American multinational

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...

technology company A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics-based technological company, including, for example, business relating to digital electronics, software, and internet-related services, such as e-commerce services. Details According to '' ...

headquartered in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, that develops

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or te ...

s (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

solutions. It was formed on November 1, 2015, renamed from the personal computer and printer divisions of the original

Hewlett-Packard Company The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

, with that company's enterprise product and business services divisions becoming

Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States. HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the ...

. The split was structured so that Hewlett-Packard changed its name to HP Inc. and spun off Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a new publicly traded company. HP Inc. retains Hewlett-Packard's pre-2015 stock price history and its former stock ticker symbol, HPQ, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise trades under its own symbol, HPE. HP is listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

and is a constituent of the

S&P 500 Index The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...

. It is the world's 2nd largest personal computer vendor by unit sales as of January 2021, after

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, business solutions, and related se ...

. In the 2018 ''Fortune'' 500 list, HP is ranked 58th largest United States corporation by total revenue.

History

HP Inc. was formerly known as Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 by

Bill Hewlett William Redington Hewlett ( ; May 20, 1913 – January 12, 2001) was an American engineer and the co-founder, with David Packard, of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). Early life and education Hewlett was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his ...

and

David Packard David Packard ( ; September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder, with Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard (1939), serving as president (1947–64), CEO (1964–68), and chairman of the board (1964–68 ...

, who both graduated with degrees in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

in 1935. The company started off in the

HP Garage The HP Garage is a private museum where the company Hewlett-Packard (HP) was founded. It is located at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California. It is considered to be the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley". In the 1930s, Stanford University and its ...

. On November 1, 2015, Hewlett-Packard was renamed to HP Inc. and the company enterprise business was spun off and renamed to Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

As HP Inc.

In May 2016, HP introduced a new PC gaming sub-brand known as Omen (reusing trademarks associated with

VoodooPC Voodoo Computers Inc. or VoodooPC was a luxury personal computer brand and company. Voodoo was originally started as a niche PC maker in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1991, and acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2006. Voodoo specialize ...

), including gaming laptops and desktops (with the latter offering options such as

CPU water cooling Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

and

Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

's GTX 1080 graphics, and promoted as VR-ready), and other accessories (such as monitors) designed to cater to the market. In November 2017, HP acquired

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of the Samsung chaebol, acc ...

' printer division for $1.05 billion. In February 2021, HP announced its acquisition of Kingston's gaming division

HyperX HP Inc. is an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, that develops personal computers (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D printing solutions. It was formed on November ...

for $425 million. The deal only includes computer peripherals branded as HyperX, not memory or storage. The sale was completed in June 2021. In February 2022, HP announced it had acquired the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

-based packaging development company, Choose Packaging, in an effort to strengthen its capabilities in the sustainable packaging vertical. In March 2022, HP announced the acquisition of the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-headquartered communications software and hardware provider

Poly Inc. Poly, formerly Polycom, a part of HP Inc., is an American multinational corporation that develops video, voice and content collaboration and communication technology. Polycom was co-founded in 1990 by Brian L Hinman and Jeffrey Rodman. In 2018 P ...

in an all-cash transaction. HP said the cash amount agreed was $40 per share, which implied a total enterprise value of $3.3bn, inclusive Poly’s net debts.

Attempted merger with Xerox

On November 5, 2019, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that print and digital document company

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...

was contemplating acquiring HP. The company unanimously rejected two unsolicited offers, including a cash-and-stock offer at $22 per-share. HP stated that there was "uncertainty regarding Xerox’s ability to raise the cash portion of the proposed consideration" (especially given that Xerox is a smaller company in terms of market cap than HP), and noted the company's aggressiveness. On November 26, 2019, Xerox issued a public letter defending allegations by HP that its offer was "uncertain" and "highly conditional", and declared its intent to "engage directly with HP shareholders to solicit their support in urging the HP Board to do the right thing and pursue this compelling opportunity." Xerox stated in January 2020 that it would propose the replacement of HP's board of directors during its next shareholder meeting in April 2020. In a statement to ''TechCrunch'', HP disclosed a belief that Xerox's bid was being "driven by"

activist shareholder An activist shareholder is a shareholder who uses an equity stake in a corporation to put pressure on its management. A fairly small stake (less than 10% of outstanding shares) may be enough to launch a successful campaign. In comparison, a full ...

Carl Icahn Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American financier. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach. Icahn takes la ...

. Xerox raised its bid to $24 per-share in February 2020. On February 21, 2020, HP instituted a

shareholder rights plan A shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill", is a type of defensive tactic used by a corporation's board of directors against a takeover. In the field of mergers and acquisitions, shareholder rights plans were devised in the ...

to fend off Xerox's pursuit of a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

. Four days later, HP announced that, if shareholders rejected the Xerox purchase, it planned on offering $16 billion in capital return between fiscal 2020 and 2022, including $8 billion in additional share buybacks and raising its "target long-term return of capital to 100% of free cash flow generation". HP criticized Xerox's bid as a "flawed value exchange" based on "overstated synergies". On March 5, 2020, HP rejected an offer at $24 per-share. On March 31, 2020, Xerox rescinded its bid to buy HP Inc, issuing in a statement, "The current global health crisis and resulting macroeconomic and market turmoil caused by COVID-19 have created an environment that is not conducive to Xerox continuing to pursue an acquisition of HP Inc."

Current operations

HP develops

s (PCs), printers and related supplies, as well as 3D Printing solutions. In fiscal year 2022, total revenue of included US$29.2 billion from the sale of

notebook computers A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

, US$10.7 billion from the sale of

desktop computer A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply ...

s, US$11.8 billion from the sale of printer supplies, US$4.2 billion from the sale of commercial printers, and US$2.9 billion from the sale of consumer printers. Over 65 percent of revenue in 2022 came from customers outside of the United States.

Audio partner

In March 2015, HP announced that

Bang & Olufsen Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is a Danish high-end consumer electronics company that designs and manufactures audio products, television sets, and telephones. It was founded in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen, who designed a radio to work with al ...

would become the company's new premium audio partner for its computers and other devices. The partnership replaced the one with

Beats Electronics Beats Electronics LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, or simply Beats by Dre) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company exec ...

which ended upon its acquisition by Apple Inc.

Controversies

Xinjiang region

In 2020, the

Australian Strategic Policy Institute The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) is a defence and strategic policy think tank based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, founded by the Australian government and funded by the Australian and overseas governments, industry ...

accused at least 82 major brands, including HP Inc, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in the Chinese

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwes ...

province.

Carbon footprint

HP reported Total CO₂e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending December 31, 2020, at 254 Kt (−34 /-11.8% y-o-y)Alt URL
and plans to reduce emissions 60% by 2025 from a 2015 base year. This science-based target is aligned with

Paris Agreement The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and ...

to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. According to a press release issued on April 20, 2021, HP seeks to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the HP value chain by 2040, beginning with their Supplies business achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. "Climate change is a defining challenge of our generation that demands immediate action and investment," said Enrique Lores, HP Inc. President and CEO. "Now is a time for bold moves and ambitious goals that will protect our planet and create new sources of innovation and growth across the global economy. By driving toward net-zero carbon emissions across our entire value chain by 2040, product circularity and a forest positive framework, we will accelerate our progress and advance HP’s aspiration to become the world’s most sustainable and just technology company."

References

External links

* {{Authority control * 2015 establishments in California American brands American companies established in 2015 Companies based in Palo Alto, California Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Computer companies of the United States Consumer electronics brands Display technology companies Manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Netbook manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 2015 Computer companies established in 2015 Corporate spin-offs Software companies based in California Software companies of the United States Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Technology companies established in 2015 Technology companies of the United States