Comments on: HP buys Compaq for $25 Billion

HP buys Compaq for $25 Billion

mrbula — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:39:18 -0800

HP buys Compaq for $25 Billion (NY Times link) - The resulting company would be nearly as big as IBM. "The merger ... could create a stronger competitor for Sun Microsystems and IBM in the server computer market while putting pressure on IBM, Dell and Gateway in the personal computer business... The merged company would be in a position to compete with IBM across virtually its entire product line." Now if we can just get someone to fight Microsoft.

By: bloggboy

bloggboy — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:43:01 -0800

What does this mean stock-wise? I have several thousands dollars invested in compaq and I'm a little edgy at the moment to say the least. Any guesses?

By: mrbula

mrbula — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:46:08 -0800

I'm not sure if I like this or not. I've generally had good experiences with Compaq computers. While HP makes some kick-ass printers, the same can't be said for their desktops. This is somewhat superficial, but I'm also curious what name the resulting company would take, or if they'd try to keep both names.

By: aaron

aaron — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:47:38 -0800

The important question, of course: What will happen to VAX/VMS?

By: shackbar

shackbar — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:49:26 -0800

The NY Times story said there is an 18% premium for Compaq stock. I'm guessing Wall Street will like this deal. With slower computer sales, consolidation would be desired to boost profits. What I see from this big, big story is many big companies positioning themselves for this slower growth computer market. I mentioned on my weblog that Gateway's recent trouble makes it a prime target for acquisition, but that's not to say companies like EMC, Sun, Dell, or IBM looking for something to gobble up.

By: shackbar

shackbar — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:50:34 -0800

Here's a possible name: Com-Pack. I know, really lame.

By: aaron

aaron — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:52:09 -0800

bloggboy: Judging from the articles I've seen so far on this, expect a ~20% increase in the value of your Compaq stock.

From Friday's close, that is.

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:52:35 -0800

How about Hewlett Compaqrrd? It has that riot nrrd flava.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:55:08 -0800

Cool... and Carleton Fiorina will stay in charge. I doubt this will mean anything for consumers (maybe together they can produce a decent laptop for once?), but it's cool to see such a large corporation with a woman at the top.

By: shackbar

shackbar — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:55:30 -0800

How about HAL. The ultimate nerd name and IBM killer.

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 20:58:23 -0800

How About Digital Equipment : 0

By: judith

judith — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 21:19:06 -0800

they could probably pick up gateway pretty cheaply right about now too...

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 21:30:52 -0800

The only way anything good could come out of this is if the combined company suddenly grew a pair and decided that, gee, maybe letting Intel bury the fastest CPU architecture on the planet isn't such a great idea. (for those not following the esoteric high-end CPU scene, a couple months ago Compaq announced the end of developments on their Alpha line of CPU's. Compaq got the line when they bought Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) a while back, and squandered much of the momentum behind what had been the fastest line of CPU's one the planet, allowing Intel to become competitive (though Alphas still hold the highest peak numbers for SPEC integer and floating point tests). Alphas were no-compromise beasts, stomping on everything in their path, and they were willingly sold out to Intel, so Intel could buy their way out of having to actually compete on performance terms. It's the kind of thing that makes geeks cry...)

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 21:34:20 -0800

Sigh, the whole thing also takes on sinister overtones when you trace back further, since HP collaborated with Intel on developing the annointed replacement for X86, IA64. How long has Compaq been angling toward being a compliant partner for another company already spending so much time in bed with Intel?

By: brownpau

brownpau — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 22:42:43 -0800

> How about Hewlett Compaqrrd? It has that riot nrrd flava. For the full impact of nerdiness, I suggest Jean-Luc Paqard. Okay, that was corny. I apologize. Other possibilities:

HewPaq.

Um... um...

By: skallas

skallas — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 22:50:05 -0800

What name change? Compaq's name is worth tons, expect it to stay the same until if becomes unprofitable.

By: riffola

riffola — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 22:59:15 -0800

I doubt they'll stop using the Comaq brand name, but on the other hand I guess the parent company may take on a new name. I think it will be more like the Daimler Chrysler deal, or the AOLTW merger.

By: Mikoid

Mikoid — Mon, 03 Sep 2001 23:02:23 -0800

HomPaq might work. They can even use the HP initials...

By: costas

costas — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 01:52:24 -0800

Read the articles, people, the joined company will be named Hewlett-Packard. And that's a good thing, IMHO: as important as Compaq was in PC history, there's tons more history in the H-P name.

By: shinybeast

shinybeast — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 01:53:57 -0800

It'll be interesting to see how HP directs the future of OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX, and HP-UX. I suppose that Tru64 UNIX is the 64-bit OS they've been lusting after...

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 04:37:11 -0800

Use the initials that everyone uses to refer to Hewlett-Packard as anyway (HP), and then add the "C" from Compaq = HPC.

By: MrBaliHai

MrBaliHai — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 06:47:47 -0800

Given that both HP and Compaq have fairly abysmal records when it comes to mergers, my expectations are pretty low.

By: riffola

riffola — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 08:00:46 -0800

For those who follow F1, Compaq has a sponsorship contract with the Williams team till 2003, it also provides sevices to the Sauber team. HP sponsors the Jaguar and Jordan teams, and also provides services to the Benetton [Renault] team. So it will be interesting to see how to handle the various contracts.

By: kchristidis

kchristidis — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 09:24:22 -0800

Pictures of the lady in charge: one - two

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 09:32:18 -0800

Actually, the HP we now know doesn't even have any of the traditional businesses which made the name great. All those businesses (test and measurement equipment) were spun off as a separate company called Agilent.

By: aramaic

aramaic — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 10:34:41 -0800

Hrm. Two once-great, still-huge companies merging to form a single once-great, now-gigantic company? Gosh, *that* is a recipe for success! Wow, what genius! Now I know why they pay those execs the big bucks.

By: valerie

valerie — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 10:37:48 -0800

I've generally had good experiences with Compaq computers. While HP makes some kick-ass printers, the same can't be said for their desktops. This is somewhat superficial, but I'm also curious what name the resulting company would take, or if they'd try to keep both names. I thought the opposite was true, with Compaq making the bad machines and HP making somewhat better ones. From what I've heard, they're going to lose the Compaq name and go with just HP..

By: lannie628

lannie628 — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 15:26:04 -0800

Yeah, Compaqs are the sucky ones, in my experience. My tech-impaired dad picked mine and the family's ones out for us. I shall never let him pick out a computer again. {g}

By: benjh

benjh — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 17:23:03 -0800

I've had both brands of machines, worked on both brands of machines, and its a wash in suckiness. The one thing I like about Compaq, which I don't know if HP has adopted in the new cases (haven't worked with one in about a year) is the easy access they have, where you don't need a screwdriver to change drives and add new hard drives and such. That is pretty cool. With the exception of removing the screws from the casing, which I do on day one of ownership, like most geeks would. So this is one aspect I like. I'm curious about the future of their respective PocketPC lines. I wonder if they will have a Hewlett Packard iPaq, or make the iPaq a Jornada. But this is going to hurt Microsoft, because their roster of manufacturers for these units, slim as it was, has now been reduced by one.