By Adam E. John

HP has decided that its Personal Systems Group (PSG) unit (also known as the ‘PC division’ in less esoteric circles) will remain as part of the company, after all. The company under its then CEO Leo Apothekar had made up its collective minds to spin off the PC division into a separate company. “HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer.

The strategic review involved subject matter experts from across the businesses and functions. The evaluation underlined the depth of integration between PSG and across key operations such as supply chain, IT and procurement. The strategic review also detailed the extent to which PSG contributes to HP’s solutions portfolio and overall brand value. Last but not the least, the review also showed that the cost to recreate these in a standalone company outweighed any benefits of separation. Which kind of makes us wonder why Apothekar and the HP board announced that it would chop off the PC division without going through a strategic review in the first place?

“As part of HP, PSG will continue to give customers and partners the advantages of product innovation and global scale across the industry’s broadest portfolio of PCs, workstations and more,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “We intend to make the leading PC business in the world even better.”