HP, Compaq Deal Approved

EyesWideOpen writes "The merger between Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp. (originally reported in this Slashdot story) is now official according to eWeek as well as SiliconValley.com. From the eWeek article:'Hewlett-Packard Co. today announced that it will complete its $19 billion buyout of Compaq Computer Corp. and that the merged companies will formally launch as the new HP on May 7.'For you investors out there, HP will begin trading under the new symbol HPQ on Monday." A message to the Interesting People list gives some insight into the shareholder voting procedure.

Comments

AOL-Time Warner

[gambit3]

Kids(I'm looking at you, HP), kids(I'm looking at you, Compaq), didn't we learn anything from the AOL/Time Warner Fiasco?

I guess not.

Let's see how they're doing in a year's time.

HP is probably the largest Linux company now

[Bruce Perens]

This probably makes HP the largest Linux company by shipped product. Did you know that HP offers 24/7 support for Debian?

The merger has not been a comfortable thing from day one, and the press coverage has been very disquieting. It's clear what people like me in the company should do now - our best to make it work, regardless of anything that happened on the way. I said a long time ago that this could be excellent for Linux, and I still think so. It's going to be fun.

Thanks

Bruce

Re:HP is probably the largest Linux company now

[Tadghe]

Bruce,

I respect you immensely. I've been hearing the 'This is great for Linux' line from Carly, you and a few other OSS people since the merger was announced, but I have *not* seen anyone explain *why* this is good for Linux or OSS in general. Why is the merger a good Idea for the OSS crowd?
I really would like to know. Right now I'm having to decide on what do I tell my clients when asked about buying HP/Compaq equipment, especially with regards to their Linux commitment. Will the DL380's with Linux compat LightsOut boards we have today still be supported 18 mos down the road by this new company?
Should I tell them to check out the new Dell IU's or IBM's new line?

Please for those of us who really need to know, why is the merger a "Good Thing(tm)" for Linux?

A bad idea all-round.

[darkov2]

$19 billion for Compaq? I'll give you $10 bucks for it.

I have to say I still resent Compaq for buying Digital. They killed off all the good research and turned it into another homogenised, bland corporate. Digital used be be a great company with great products in their time. HP has made some great products in their time. I wonder how long before they become bland and homogenised, selling lowest-common denominator boxes, avoiding anything that looks like risk, imagination or anything else that used to propel the computer industry forward. Now the only ideas they have is a takeover deal (and another and another). Great! That'll keep the industry going for the decades!

I'm just glad that no-one will touch Apple with a 10-foot pole. Everyone expects them to go broke every other week. No-one in corporate land really understands what keeps Apple afloat becuase it can't be boiled down to a finacing deal. And they probably realise that the customer loyalty and brand respect they enjoy will very probably evaporate if someone tried to buy it.

Re:Can anybody clarify this?

[watanabe]

The comments that Walter Hewlett is a whiny cry-baby who is costing shareholder's money are just total crap.

Read a bit about HP in, say, Good-to-Great, or other management books, and you'll understand that Carly Fiorina, current CEO of HP is a massive departure from the companies long term values, and it's showing in things like this purchase. I predict long term loss to shareholders from this merger -- it just doesn't make sense for HP. And the long-timers at HP knew it!

I'm disappointed in the shenanigans the poster to the Interesting People list described, and frankly, Ms. Fiorina, if you ever read this, I'm disappointed in you. Please stop telling people the HP way is one that makes office politics irrelevant! You just look like a jerk.

Here is how it SHOULD break down.

[OS24Ever]

Here's what I see happening from the tidbits I've garnered from many a customers discussion with their HP or Compaq Rep.

1) Anything without an intel chip in it, the days are numbered. HP invested way too much in the Itanium / EPIC instruction set and they are going to can PA-RISC in favor of Itanium in their future Unix Machines.

2) Compaq already said Alpha going bye bye in favor of Itanium.

3) HP dumped their 3000 line...Can't see any non-intel compaq line sticking around much longer

4) HP will dump their entire business line of Intel products, the Netserver, the Desktop PCs, and the Notebooks. This does not include the Best Buy crap, just the stop corps use, or should I say DON'T Use. Compaq's product line will become HP's product line for corporate intel servers.

5) Toss up in the consumer market. HP & Compaq have been 1/2 in the retail division with the Presario/Pavillion, don't know/don't care what happens to them. In my personal experience of living vicariously through other people HPs Pavillions break more than the Presarios did.

6) HP Should maintain it's printer division while Compaq fades away.

7) The new company will claim all sorts of wlid thing like they've been supporting Linux the longest, they have the most Unix experience, etc trying to woo the Open Source community when in fact the people that are running the new HP never touched Linux, they just bought and destroyed other companies that did (Digital) and desperately have been trying to get some news bites about linux because other companies like VA Linux, Pengiun Computing, and IBM really support linux by giving things back to the community instead of just hoping it sells more of their servers/desktops.

8) IBM and Dell will continue to chip away the lead of this new merger, just prolonging the inevitable die off of even more hardware companies. If past experience of mergers with Compaq involved mean anything it'll be 18 months of a mess before anything positive comes out, and Dell and IBM will continually be beating on that. Dell from a price perspective, and IBM from a technology perspective.