Meg Whitman faces a tough task trying to turn around HP, according to Cisco chief John Chambers.
"There's not been a company ever turned around by the fifth CEO on the job," Chambers said in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, referring to HP's management history.
There's not been a company turned around by the fifth CEO ever.
Whitman replaced the harshly criticized Leo Apotheker at the helm of HP almost exactly one year ago in a bid to restore investor confidence in the iconic Silicon Valley company.
Chambers said there was potential for HP, the world's number one PC maker, to grow in market transitions to cloud computing and the move from PCs to tablets, but the company may not be able to catch up. Cisco and HP compete in a number of areas such as networking equipment.
"Its a tough hand to play, but clearly as a competitor I like competing against that hand, and we are going to try and accelerate while they are struggling," Chambers said.
HP has continued to struggle since Whitman took the helm, posting an $8.9 billion loss for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31. Its shares on Tuesday hit a more than one-year low of $16.70, before nudging up a penny to close at $16.71.
Chambers softened his comments by saying that he is a "huge" Whitman supporter, pointing to his backing of her unsuccessful run for governor of California in 2010.
He said he believes she took the chief executive job at Hewlett Packard in part because of her deep respect for the culture of Silicon Valley.
"She did it, I believe, because she cares about the Valley so much and HP is an integral part of the Valley," Chambers said.
Speaking to the shared interest among technology company CEOs in preserving Silicon Valley's distinct culture, Chambers related an experience he had during his early days at Cisco with another HP boss, Lew Platt.
Chambers said that when he first got to "the Valley," he didn't know anything about it so he asked Platt to teach him about the culture.
"He met with me, and I asked for the next quarter and he met with me again; three years later we met every quarter," Chambers recounted. "He let me bring my team and he would bring his team, after three years we were on a roll."
Years later, when Chambers asked Platt what was behind his generosity he replied, "John, this is what our culture is about."
-
Data center water consumption is out of control, but cloud providers want EU lawmakers to go easy on themNews The European Commission says water shortages are being exacerbated by leaks and pollution, but also points to high usage from data center operators.
-
British IT worker jailed for revenge attack on employer that caused a “ripple effect of disruption” for colleagues and customersNews West Yorkshire man Mohammed Umar Taj was suspended from his job in Huddersfield in July 2022, and began taking revenge within hours.
-
Cisco names Oliver Tuszik as global sales chiefNews Cisco has announced the appointment of Oliver Tuszik as its new executive vice president of global sales, who replaces Gary Steele.
-
Cisco wants to train 1.5 million Europeans in digital skillsNews Cisco has unveiled plans to provide free training to 1.5 million people across the EU as part of a major digital skills drive.
-
"Our goal is to transform partner success": Cisco just announced a major overhaul of its partner program – here’s what you need to knowNews The Cisco 360 Partner Program promises to accelerate the value partners bring to customers, reimagined to boost skills and innovation
-
Meta layoffs hit staff at WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs divisionsNews The 'year of efficiency' for Mark Zuckerberg continues as Meta layoffs affect staff in key business units
-
Cisco’s ‘savvy’ CoreWeave deal will supercharge its AI ambitions
Analysis Experts told ITPro the move could be an attempt to strengthen Cisco’s AI footprint
-
Cisco layoffs cut deeper than expected as firm ramps up AI focusNews The move marks the second round of Cisco layoffs so far this year, with 7% of its global headcount expected to be cut
-
Cisco to cut thousands of roles in second batch of layoffs this yearNews The Cisco job cuts mark the second wave of layoffs for the tech giant so far in 2024
-
Cisco names new CEO for UK & IrelandNews The former BT director succeeds David Meads, who will now lead Cisco’s operations in the Middle East and Africa
