Hewlett-Packard

The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard or HP, was an American multinational <a href="/facts/Information_technology/glMzunwe">information technology</a> company. It was founded by <a href="/facts/Bill_Hewlett/sb18jed1">Bill Hewlett</a> and <a href="/facts/David_Packard/8GfWblhG">David Packard</a> in 1939 in a one-car garage in <a href="/facts/Palo_Alto%2c_California/KJpC7kd8">Palo Alto, California</a>, where the company would remain headquartered for the remainder of its lifetime; this <a href="/facts/HP_Garage/58tyAEhF">HP Garage</a> is now a designated landmark and marked with a plaque calling it the "Birthplace of '<a href="/facts/Silicon_Valley/gdot9J7e">Silicon Valley</a>'". HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components, as well as software and related services, to consumers, small and medium-sized businesses (<a href="/facts/Small_and_medium-sized_enterprises/86CC7BvV">SMBs</a>), and fairly large companies, including customers in government sectors, until the company officially split into <a href="/facts/Hewlett_Packard_Enterprise/d9NbClDt">Hewlett Packard Enterprise</a> and <a href="/facts/HP_Inc./68EHIDIa">HP Inc.</a> in 2015.
HP initially produced a line of electronic test and measurement equipment. It won its first big contract in 1938 to provide the <a href="/facts/HP_200B/zRmn5UtG">HP 200B</a>, a variation of its first product, the <a href="/facts/HP_200A/zRmn5UtG">HP 200A</a> low-distortion frequency oscillator, for <a href="/facts/Walt_Disney/6a3CPUKT">Walt Disney</a>'s production of the 1940 animated film <a href="/facts/Fantasia_(1940_film)/tE8lKae9">Fantasia</a>, which allowed Hewlett and Packard to formally establish the Hewlett-Packard Company on July 2, 1939. The company grew into a <a href="/facts/Multinational_corporation/qrMQSMTb">multinational corporation</a> widely respected for its products. HP was the world's <a href="/facts/Market_share_of_personal_computer_vendors/5vaHdNLp">leading PC manufacturer</a> from 2007 until the second quarter of 2013 when <a href="/facts/Lenovo/4UNdKGUU">Lenovo</a> moved ahead of HP. HP specialized in developing and manufacturing computing, data storage, and networking hardware, designing software, and delivering services. Major product lines included personal computing devices, enterprise and industry standard servers, related storage devices, networking products, software, and a range of printers and other imaging products. The company directly marketed its products to households, small- to medium-sized businesses, and enterprises, as well as via online distribution, consumer-electronics, and office-supply retailers, software partners, and major technology vendors. It also offered services and a consulting business for its products and partner products.
In 1999, HP <a href="/facts/Corporate_spin-off/AAdmMr3u">spun off</a> its electronic and bio-analytical test and measurement instruments business into <a href="/facts/Agilent_Technologies/wKJ8cvAc">Agilent Technologies</a>; HP retained focus on its later products, including computers and printers. It <a href="/facts/Merger/YfczSf3M">merged</a> with <a href="/facts/Compaq/6LuhWTE7">Compaq</a> in 2002 in what was then a major deal within the industry. They made <a href="/facts/List_of_acquisitions_by_Hewlett-Packard/ast95fSq">numerous other acquisitions</a> including <a href="/facts/Electronic_Data_Systems/JeGRgzBE">Electronic Data Systems</a> in 2008, which led to combined revenues of $118.4 billion that year and a <a href="/facts/Fortune_500/BLeHWymz">Fortune 500</a> ranking of 9 in 2009, and later <a href="/facts/3Com/Btwf1I4W">3Com</a>, <a href="/facts/Palm%2c_Inc./UTzaHFpz">Palm, Inc.</a>, and <a href="/facts/3PAR/9NsxzyBy">3PAR</a>, all in 2010, followed by <a href="/facts/Autonomy_Corp/yBU8pJh1">Autonomy Corp</a>. However, the company's fortunes swiftly declined in the 2010s; this led to Hewlett-Packard's split into two separate companies on November 1, 2015: its enterprise products and services business were spun-off to form <a href="/facts/Hewlett_Packard_Enterprise/d9NbClDt">Hewlett Packard Enterprise</a>, while its personal computer and printer businesses became <a href="/facts/HP_Inc./68EHIDIa">HP Inc.</a>

Hewlett-Packard open-in-new

Hewlett-Packard