 The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ, NASDAQ: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is one of the world's largest information technology corporations. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States, it has a global presence in the fields of computing, printing, and digital imaging, and also provides software and services.
Company history
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Founding
Welcome to HP
Main entrance of HP headquarters buildingHP was founded on January 1, 1939 as a manufacturer of test and measurement instruments, by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, with a US$538 investment.[1] They had both graduated from Stanford University in 1934. The company originated in a garage there while they were still fellows at Stanford. (so their story was more "academic gowns to riches" than rags to riches).[2]
Their first product was a precision audio oscillator, the Model 200A. Their innovation was the use of a small night-light bulb as a temperature dependent resistor in a critical portion of the circuit. This allowed them to sell the Model 200A for $54.40 when competitors were selling less stable oscillators for over $200. The Model 200 series of generators continued until at least 1972 as the 200AB, still tube-based but improved in design through the years. At 33 years, it was perhaps the longest-selling basic electronic design of all time.
The company name, Hewlett-Packard, was derived from the founder's last names. Had Bill not won a coin toss, the company today might be known as Packard-Hewlett. One of the company's earliest customers was Walt Disney Productions, who bought eight Model 200B oscillators (at $71.50 each) for use in testing the Fantasound stereophonic sound system for the movie Fantasia.
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Focus
The company was originally rather unfocused, working on a wide range of electronic products for industry and even agriculture. Eventually they elected to focus on high-quality electronic test and measurement equipment. Throughout the 1940s to well into the 1990s the company focused on making signal generators, voltmeters, oscilloscopes, counters, and other test equipment. Their distinguishing feature was pushing the limits of measurement range and accuracy. For instance, almost every HP voltmeter or signal generator has one or more extra clicks of its knobs than its competitors. HP volt- or ammeters would measure down and up an extra 10 to 100 times the units of other meters. Although there were good reasons why competing meters stopped at 1 volt full scale, HP engineers figured out ways of extending the range of their equipment by a considerable amount. They also focused on extreme accuracy and stability, leading to a wide range of very accurate, precise, and stable frequency counters, voltmeters, thermometers, and time standards.
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The sixties and seventies
HP is recognized as the symbolic founder of Silicon Valley, although it did not actively investigate semiconductor devices until a few years after the "Traitorous Eight" had abandoned William Shockley to create Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. Hewlett-Packard's HP Associates division, established around 1960, developed semiconductor devices primarily for internal use. Instruments and calculators were some of the products using these devices.
HP is acknowledged by Wired magazine as the producer of the world's first personal computer, in 1968, the Hewlett-Packard 9100A.[3] HP called it a desktop calculator because, as Bill Hewlett said, "If we had called it a computer, it would have been rejected by our customers' computer gurus because it didn't look like an IBM. We therefore decided to call it a calculator, and all such nonsense disappeared." An engineering triumph at the time, the logic circuit was produced without any integrated circuits; the assembly of the CPU having been entirely executed in discrete components. With CRT readout, magnetic card storage, and printer the price was around $5000.
The company earned global respect for a variety of products. They introduced the world's first handheld scientific electronic calculator in 1972 (the HP-35), the first handheld programmable in 1974 (the HP-65), the first alphanumeric, programmable, expandable in 1979 (the HP-41C), and the first symbolic and graphing calculator HP-28C. Like their scientific and business calculators, their oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and other measurement instruments have a reputation for sturdiness and usability (the latter products are now part of spin-off Agilent's product line). The company's design philosophy in this period was summarized as "design for the guy at the next bench".
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The eighties and beyond
In 1984, HP introduced both inkjet and laser printers for the desktop. Along with its scanner product line, these have later been developed into successful multifunction products, the most significant being single-unit printer/scanner/copier/fax machines. The print mechanisms in HP's tremendously popular LaserJet line of laser printers depend almost entirely on Canon's components (print engines), which in turn use technology developed by Xerox. HP develops the hardware, firmware, and software that convert data into dots for the mechanism to print.
In the 1990s, HP expanded their computer product line, which initially had been targeted at university, research, and business customers, to reach consumers. Later in the decade HP opened hpshopping.com as an independent subsidiary to sell online, direct to consumers; the store was rebranded "HP Home & Home Office Store" in 2005. HP also grew through acquisitions, buying Apollo Computer in 1989, Convex Computer in 1995, and Compaq in 2002. Compaq itself had bought Tandem Computers in 1997 (which had been started by ex-HP employees), and Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998. Following this strategy HP became a major player in desktops, laptops, and servers for many different markets.
In 1987, the Palo Alto garage where Hewlett and Packard started their business was designated as a California State historical landmark.
In July of 1999, HP appointed Carly Fiorina as CEO. Fiorina was the first woman ever to serve as CEO of a company included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Fiorina was forced to resign on February 9, 2005.
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Technology and products
"The new Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer" is "ready, willing, and able ... to relieve you of waiting to get on the big computer."
A Hewlett-Packard Compaq computer and a Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 5740 printer owned by the Houston Independent School District
A modern mid-range HP Laptop; the HP Pavilion zv6115EA.
A modern HP digital camera; the HP Photosmart R817.HP has a successful line of printers, scanners, digital cameras, calculators, PDAs, servers, workstations, and home-small business computers. HP today promotes itself as not just being a hardware and software company, but also one that offers a full range of services to architect, implement and support today's IT infrastructure.
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Imaging and Printing Group (IPG)
According to HP's 2005 U.S. SEC 10-K filing,[4] HP's Imaging and Printing Group is "the leading imaging and printing systems provider in the world for printer hardware, printing supplies and scanning devices, providing solutions across customer segments from individual consumers to small and medium businesses to large enterprises."
Products and technology associated with the Imaging and Printing Group include:
Inkjet and LaserJet printers, consumables and related products.
the Indigo Digital Press
the HP Web Jetadmin printer management software
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Personal Systems Group
HP's Personal Systems Group is "one of the leading vendors of personal computers ("PCs") in the world based on unit volume shipped and annual revenue."[4]
Personal Systems Group products/technology include:
Consumer PCs including the HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario and VoodooPC series.
Workstations for Unix, Windows and Linux systems.
Handheld Computing including iPAQ Pocket PC handheld computing devices
Digital Entertainment including DVD+RW drives, HP Movie Writer and HP Digital Entertainment Center. HP resold the Apple iPod from HP until November 2005.[4]
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Technology Solutions Group
In HP's financial reporting, HP groups its Enterprise Storage and Servers, HP Services and Software under Technology Solutions Group.
HP's Enterprise Storage and Servers Group has product/technology including:
the ProLiant entry line of x86 based servers (from Compaq)
the BladeSystem x86 based blade servers
the Integrity line using the Itanium processor architecture (with Intel) running on several operating systems including HP-UX (a UNIX implementation)
the HP AlphaServer productline using the Alpha processor (from DEC) and running on both:
Tru64 operating system (from DEC)
the OpenVMS large-scale, highly available server operating system (from DEC)
the NonStop high-reliability architecture and operating system (from Tandem Computers)
MIPs based Nonstop fault-tolerant server products
the PA-RISC processor architecture
the HP 9000 "Superdome" line of Servers and workstations
the StorageWorks product line, which includes business class and enterprise class Data Storage and protection products.[5]
the ProCurve family of network switches, wireless access points, and routers.[6]
HP's Software division has products/technologies including:
the OpenView family of management software
the OpenCall family of telecom software
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HP Labs
HP Labs (or HP Laboratories) is the research arm of HP. Founded in 1966, HP Labs' function is to deliver breakthrough technologies and to create business opportunities that go beyond HP's current strategies. An example of recent HP Lab technology includes the Memory spot chip.
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Partnerships
Hewlett-Packard is a supporter of FOSS and Linux. Some HP employees, such as Linux CTO and former Debian Project Leader Bdale Garbee actively contribute
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