HP’s cup of woes is brimming over
Darlington Jose Hector : Dec 03 2012, 02:30 IST
When things start to go wrong it can go pretty much completely wrong. Hewlett-Packard (HP) must be feeling the same way right now. It has been an uphill battle for HP for some time with personal computers the world over giving way to tablets and its business strategies across functions being questioned by hardliners. And if that’s not enough, the firm has been sued by an investor over a $8.8 billion write-down, that the tech major had said was related partly to alleged financial accounting irregularities at Autonomy Corp, the UK-based software company that it purchased last year. This kind of distraction is something HP can ill afford in a world dominated by Apple and Google, companies that have pushed PC majors like HP and Dell to the background.
The shareholder in his complaint has alleged that HP had tried to cover up that it had gained control of Autonomy based on falsified financial statements. HP’s CEO Meg Whitman and its former CEO Leo Apothekar are both named defendants in the case. Autonomy chief executive Mike Lynch has written a letter to HP’s board demanding details of the allegations that he and his team inflated revenue and gross margins. But HP has not yielded to such a request. HP had submitted documents to SEC and Department of Justice detailing the charges. HP had acquired Autonomy last year for $11 billion. The recent events have again pointed to HP’s effectiveness or the lack of it, when it comes to acquisitions. EDS,
Previous Story Millions in UK 'struggling' financially: study Next Story Does LK Advani agree with Sushma Swaraj on Narendra Modi issue: Digvijay Singh
Reader's Comments| Post a Comment
Be the first to comment.
