HP Combines Printers And PC Divisions Into The Printing and Personal Systems Group
HP announced today that the two of the company’s largest divisions will be combined into one, if you will, super division. The Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) and Personal Systems Group (PSG) are joining together to be called The Printing and Personal Systems Group. This is a long time coming.
As the press release mentions, the driving force behind the change is to improve performance and increase profits. Both groups are suffering from the move to the post-PC era. HP almost spun off the PSG in the middle of 2011 and printer and ink sales are dipping down. The two groups are separately vulnerable, but together, they can pool resources and hopefully survive in this brave new world.
The new group will be lead by Todd Bradley, the former executive vice president of PSG. Vyomesh Joshi, the executive vice president of IPG, is retiring from a 31-year stay at HP.
“This combination will bring together two businesses where HP has established global leadership,” said Meg Whitman, CEO of HP in a released statement today. “By providing the best in customer-focused innovation and operational efficiency, we believe we will create a winning scenario for customers, partners and shareholders.”
The streamlining strategy will no doubt cost some people their jobs. Both former groups within HP were massive entities, each employing engineers to support staff. There are probably a good amount of redundant positions in the new group.
The two teams will likely employ each other’s best practices and designs. Hopefully that doesn’t mean selling massively-overpriced proprietary PC parts in the same fashion as printer ink — because, you know, printer ink is big business.
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