Hewlett-Packard Co. has separated its personal computer and printer units just five months after combining them, the company announced Monday.
The newly independent Personal Systems Group will be headed by former the CEO of handheld-computer maker palmOne Inc., Todd Bradley, who has been hired as executive vice president. The division, which has struggled financially, produces personal computers, handhelds, notebooks, monitors and workstations.
Bradley resigned from Palm earlier in the year. Previously he had worked at Gateway, where he served as executive vice president of global operations.
Separating the units will help H-P "further sharpen our competitiveness and improve our cost structures," Chief Executive Mark Hurd said.
Vyomesh Joshi, another executive VP, will run H-Pis imaging and printing group. Mr. Joshi had headed the printing group before adding PCs to his portfolio in January.
The PC unit he will take over at H-P is the worldis second-largest maker of personal computers, behind Dell Inc. Profitability at the unit has been improving, while H-P has been losing market share to Dell. For the six months ended April 30, the groupis operating earnings nearly tripled to US$294 million from $105 million, on revenue of $13.2 billion.