Computer giant HP to break into two companies

Hewlett Packard is spinning off its PC and printer businesses. Wall Street Journal said Sunday that HP would announce plans Monday to separate its PC and printing business from corporate hardware and services operations.

The Wall Street Journal said, "A number of large firms, including eBay, have chosen to break up recently, in part because of a belief that operations with different growth profiles are best managed as separate entities."

Meg Whitman who became HP`s CEO in 2011 is slated to be the chairman of the PC and printer business and CEO of the other company (corporate hardware and service), while Dion Weisler, executive of PC and printer operation, will be the CEO of that business, according to the Wall Street Journal.

HP was founded in Palo Alto, San Francisco in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and David Packard, graduates from Stanford University, and grew into a global computer and office device maker. In 1995, the company was named by Forbes as the company of the year. However, sales have faltered in recent years due to shrinking PC market and HP was taken over by Lenovo as the world`s largest PC seller last year. HP`s total sales fell by 6.7 percent year-on-year last year with sales at PC and printer businesses declining by 7.1 percent.