HP may replace Apotheker

HP's board convened yesterday to discuss the removal of CEO Leo Apotheker less than a year after it appointed him, following a string of poorly received strategies, according to several news reports.

Last month, Apotheker announced the acquisition of UK software company Autonomy, and that the company would discontinue operations for its webOS devices, including the TouchPad tablet. He also stated that the company would be spinning off its PC business.

These announcements are thought to be partly responsible for the 43 per cent slump in HP's share price this year. Ovum chief analyst Carter Lusher said that the rumours suggest that HP is in turmoil.

"Regardless of whether or not the rumour is correct, the damage has been done. This rumour and any actual action that the board might make only reinforces that HP is a company in severe disarray.

"That the board would be considering a change in CEO less that 10 months after Apotheker took the job, is a damning indictment of not just the new CEO, but also the board itself.

Having approved the recent strategy changes, it seems spineless for the board just a month later to be potentially jettisoning that plan and its architect."

It has been widely reported that the board are considering former eBay chief Meg Whitman as his replacement. Lusher was unconvinced that this move would be positively received.

"Rumours that former eBay CEO and current HP board member Meg Whitman might be an interim replacement for Apotheker would do little for the confidence of HP's enterprise customers.

Whitman's expertise lies primarily in the consumer market, and an interim leader will just prolong the sense of uncertainty." However, the markets have responded favourably to the rumours of Apotheker's potential removal, sending HP's shares up by 6.6 per cent.

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