| Hewlett-Packard Company
Computer business
Hewlett-Packard's first computer, the HP
2116A, was developed in 1966 specifically to manage the
company's test and measurement devices. In 1972 the
company released the HP 3000 general-purpose
minicomputer--a product line that remains in use
today--for use in business. In 1976 an engineering
intern at the company, Stephen G. Wozniak, built a
prototype for the first personal computer and
offered it to the company. Hewlett-Packard declined and
gave Wozniak all rights to his idea; later he joined
with Steven P. Jobs to create Apple Computer,
Inc.
Hewlett-Packard introduced its first desktop computer,
the HP-85, in 1980. Because it was incompatible with the
IBM PC, which became the industry standard, it was a
failure. The company's next major foray into the PC
market was with the HP-150, an IBM PC-compatible system
that had a touch screen. Although technically
interesting, it also failed in the marketplace. The
company's first successful product for the PC market was
actually a printer. The HP LaserJet appeared in 1984 to
rave reviews and huge sales, becoming Hewlett-Packard's
single most successful product.
In the mid-1980s Hewlett-Packard found itself losing
business in its core fields of science and engineering
to rival computer workstation companies such as
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Silicon Graphics, Inc., and
Apollo Computer. In 1989 Hewlett-Packard bought
Apollo to become the number one workstation maker, a
position it has since shared on and off with Sun.
As the 1990s began the company missed some revenue
and profit targets, causing a steep decline in its stock
price. As a result, Packard came out of retirement to
take an active role in the management of the company.
The most dramatic changes came in its lacklustre PC
group with the introduction of new computers, printers,
and peripherals at low prices that made the company one
of the world's top three PC manufacturers. In 1993, with
the company turnaround complete, Packard retired again.
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