HP buys Compaq for USD25 billion, 15,000 to lose jobs

Trojan

err.... that's the sceal...

http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2428/IDG010904hp_compaq/

Al.

Hecate

surely that would make them one of the biggest companies in the world now.

Trojan

Yep, 2nd only to IBM by all accounts...

It's amazing to consider the size vs revenue figures for some of these companies: M$ is much smaller (I heard/read maybe 6 times smaller, but don't quote me on it) than IBM, but it's revenue is much greater....

Al.

phobos

I was actually standing in Compustore today when I heard that on the radio. I couldn't believe it. Does this mean that Compaq's European Software HQ here in Galway, is now going to be changed to HP?. That would be madness, I tells ya. First twas DEC, then Compaq, now HP, what next?

I always get nervous around these kinda things (people being layed off and stuff). It's an all too real notion for the IT mega corps these days.

;-phobos-)

elexes

this can only mean one thing they are now going to build the sh!test computer the world has ever seen the COMP-HP

Trojan

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Ba$tard:
There are many many bigger companies in the world....just look at Exxon Mobil or Wal-mart or GM(GM I think employs 370,000 or so) or Ford
...but in the tech industry IBM reign supreme with the most registered patents also in the world....
</font>

Well IBM with 325,000 aint too far off that mark... they are listed number 8 in the Fortunes listing...

Hpaq will be around 1/2 that size in terms of employee numbers with around 145,000.

HP and Compaq were 19 and 21 respectively, now they're going to be much closer to the top.

Sun are pretty small considering, with only 43,000 employees but have half the revenue of either HP or Compaq (before we consider amalgamation). Sun is ranked number 145 in the Fortune listing.

http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2428/IDG010905hpcompare/

Al.

Victor

Deal now worth only US$20 billion. Markets don't like it.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2001/0905/breaking68.htm

---

Kill, kill, kill the laser mice.

Ba$tard

There are many many bigger companies in the world....just look at Exxon Mobil or Wal-mart or GM(GM I think employs 370,000 or so) or Ford
...but in the tech industry IBM reign supreme with the most registered patents also in the world....

Ba$tard

---

"And there I was, minding my own business, when the Piano came out of nowhere!"

Trojan

HP-Compaq merger unlikely to complete

The planned $25 billion merger between Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and Compaq Computer Corp. is unlikely to be completed, according to an assessment issued by
market analyst Gartner Inc.

Gartner believes that too many difficulties exist for the two companies to successfully bring off the merger. These
include:

-- Regulatory approval. End user customers of the two companies will have to plan ahead on inadequate information,
since neither company can finalize a merged product line until approval is granted, a process that may take nine months.

-- The touted cost saving of $2.5 billion annually from 2004 only amounts to about 3 percent of the combined costs
for the two companies.

-- Product overlaps are daunting. The combined HP/Compaq will have to sort out four server architectures, seven
operating systems, four storage architectures and several service businesses.

-- Both companies have struggled to sort out the conflicts between direct and indirect PC sales channels and would
be faced with the added complexity of managing two businesses as well as two brands.

-- Both companies have service operations largely limited to hardware support, and have not been able to move into
fast-growing businesses like consulting, system integration and outsourcing, and will not be able to without significant
extra investment.

To increase cost-efficiency, job losses would ultimately be much higher than the 15,000 already announced, Gartner
said in its assessment. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, several thousand more jobs could go in the medium-term,
Gartner said.

Overall, Gartner said that the companies have not done a good enough job of presenting the benefits of the acquisition
compared with the deal's risk. The investment community has agreed -- on Tuesday alone, HP shares fell 19 percent to
a five-year low, and Compaq shares fell about 10 percent.

Shareholders of both companies have yet to approve the deal, Gartner noted.