Hewlett-Packard Co. agreed to buy security-software maker ArcSight Inc. for about $1.5 billion, continuing the company's spending spree that began after Chief Executive Mark Hurd resigned last month. Within the past 2 months they’ve purchased multiple companies; 3PAR, Palm, 3COM, Fortified Software, and now ArcSight.
But investors have been worried about H-P's strategy including the high costs it's paying for these acquisitions. On a conference call with investors, H-P executives declined to comment about the bidding process for ArcSight. Moreover, they wouldn’t gamble on taking questions about what would have happened if Mr. Hurd remained CEO. The company continued to disappoint investors when they said that they don’t expect to see any material earnings dilution in its next fiscal year.
All of this shows that HP is trying to expand in several ways such as offering even more products than its original PC base. They are trying to be a “One-Stop-Shop” for businesses that a buying technology. Meaning these companies that are trying to integrate new technology into their working stations don’t have to buy computers from one place, then security software from another, and so on.
Cite:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703466704575490370064465534.html?mod=WSJ_ComputerHardware_leftHeadlines
In a market that has, over the decade, become controlled by Apple Inc., PC companies like HP, Toshiba, and Dell are "fighting their way" to become the PC representative. The concept of competition bringing innovation and eliminating weaker companies is not a new idea. However, the whole time I read your article, I had asked myself, "How is this going to overtake Apple?" To me, they seem to be fighting for second place.
ReplyDeletePlease discuss this with me in further detail if you disagree, but I think that HP made this move because it wants to been seen as the best business choice for your computer. ArcSight (as I have interpreted it based on the overview of their website) provides the service of mitigating any cyber threats that could damage a business or government agency. Many important agencies (SEC, U.S. Army, World Bank) and companies (Disney, Walmart, Target) use this service because their enormous amounts of data need to be maintained; now that HP owns ArcSight, their security on their systems will be unparalleled for business data. Apple's computers, however, is marketed for the "casual user" for its ease, not its integration with the business world.