HP looks to spin-off PC business

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that HP is looking to sell its low-margin PC business.  The Journal says the move is a reversal of HP’s purchase of Compaq 10 years ago. The Journal quotes its own report from 2001: “At its most basic, the deal would bring Compaq, the world’s No. 2 maker of personal computers, under the umbrella of H-P, a distant No. 3, allowing the combined entity to be bigger than and better able to compete with leader Dell Computer Corp. But the deal would also have implications beyond the PC industry, which is witnessing one of its worst downturns in years. It threatens to bring the PC price war to the world of computer services and storage networks…” dominated by IBM.

As the Journal’s Shara Tibken blogs today, HP might again be trying to follow IBM, noting, “IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo in 2005 and has since transformed itself into a data center powerhouse. Its stock has soared to all-time highs and it has reported record results as it focuses on business that are more enterprise focused and less commoditized.”

The question remains, who might be interested in buying HP’s PC business, with PCs under pressure from tablets and smartphones? I doubt Google would be interested.