On this day in 2015, Hewlett Packard split - creating two industry heavyweights and rocking the technology world

When Hewlett Packard split in November 2015, it didn’t mark the end of an era, it heralded the beginning of two industry heavyweights.

The pioneering Silicon Valley firm was founded in 1939, but in a rapidly evolving tech landscape, the decision to split into two distinct entities made sense.

HP would still remain a key player in the device manufacturing industry, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), as it came to be known, would focus on corporate hardware and services.

In a 2017 interview with BBC News, former chief executive Meg Whitman explained the company had essentially grown too big for its boots. It wasn’t agile enough to contend with a rapidly changing market.

"Our decision was that we needed to separate first into two companies, because a $110bn company working in 170 countries... we were never going to be fast enough to lead the market in which we compete," Whitman said.

"The bigger you are the harder it is to be fast, because you've got so many people involved in every decision. Our view was - given the backdrop of the technology industry - [being] smaller [and] more focused was going to be important," she added.

This wasn’t just an attempt to shake things up, however. In the years preceding the split, there had been challenges.

Notable among these were a flurry of acquisitions which failed to match expectations. In 2022, the colossus acquired Compaq for $25 billion, consultancy firm EDS for $14bn in 2008, and three years later secured the now-infamous deal to acquire Autonomy for $11bn.

Buying its way to dominance wasn’t quite enough, though. In 2012, the company was pipped by Lenovo as the world’s largest device supplier.

So how have the two companies fared since the split?

HPE goes it alone

HPE has firmly established itself as a key player in the cloud computing, infrastructure, and now networking domains.

The company’s key product lines, such as ProLiant servers, Aruba networking services, and GreenLake cloud options, are highly popular. With the advent of generative AI, the company has pivoted hard toward AI infrastructure support.

In its most recent quarterly earnings report, the company recorded “record-breaking revenue,” according to current CEO Antonio Neri.

Notably, the company’s acquisition of Juniper Networks has also positioned it as a key player in the networking space, priming it for a pending battle with Cisco, Dell, and Broadcom in this domain.

What’s going on with HP?

HP still ranks among one of the biggest PC manufacturers globally, based on sales volumes. Analysis from IDC earlier this year ranked the company second in this regard, boasting a 1.9% market share.

Notably, the company has held this position for a number of years now, trailing Lenovo which holds a 24.% share.

With the arrival of AI PCs, the manufacturer has pivoted hard to accelerate development on this front alongside competitors in the space.