HP Company Overview and History | Generated by AI
Question: Give a comprehensive introduction to HP company
Answer:
Hewlett-Packard → HP Inc.
Complete Company Introduction (2025 Edition)
Quick Overview – Most Important Facts
| Full official name | HP Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 1, 1939 |
| Founders | William “Bill” Hewlett + David “Dave” Packard |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California, USA |
| Current CEO | Enrique Lores (since 2019) |
| Main business today | Personal computers + Printing (PCs & Printers) |
| 2024 Revenue (fiscal) | ≈ $53–54 billion |
| Employees | ~58,000 people |
| Stock symbol | HPQ (NYSE) |
| Market position | #1 or #2 personal computer vendor worldwide (together with Lenovo) |
Very Short History Timeline
Year | Major Event ————|————————————————————— 1939 | Founded in a garage in Palo Alto (the official birthplace of Silicon Valley) 1957 | HP becomes a public company 1968 | World’s first scientific desktop calculator – HP 9100A 1984 | World’s first mass-market inkjet & laser printer (HP LaserJet – changed office printing forever) 1999 | HP splits — Agilent (test & measurement) is separated 2002 | Very controversial merger with Compaq (huge PC business) 2015 | The Big Split → HP becomes two companies: • HP Inc. → PCs + Printers (what most people think of as “HP”) • HPE → Hewlett Packard Enterprise (servers, storage, networking, cloud, supercomputers) 2019–2025 | Very strong focus on PC + printing recovery, hybrid work, subscription printing, gaming (OMEN / HyperX), sustainability
Current Main Business Segments (≈2024–2025)
| Ranking by revenue | Segment | What they actually sell |
|---|---|---|
| ~65–70% | Personal Systems | Laptops, desktops, workstations, Chromebooks, gaming (OMEN/Victus), monitors, accessories |
| ~30–35% | Printing | Home & office printers, ink/toner, commercial & large format printing, 3D printers, print subscriptions (Instant Ink / HP+) |
| very small % | Other / Future bets | 3D printing, VR, AI PC initiatives, digital services |
Most Famous Product Lines (2025)
| Category | Very well-known product families |
|---|---|
| Consumer laptops | HP Pavilion, Envy, Spectre (very beautiful premium line) |
| Business laptops | HP ProBook, EliteBook, Elite Dragonfly (very light premium business) |
| Gaming | OMEN (high-end), Victus (mid-range gaming) |
| Workstations | ZBook series — very strong among professionals (especially ZBook Fury / Studio) |
| Printers – home | DeskJet, ENVY, OfficeJet, Smart Tank (ink tank) |
| Printers – office | LaserJet, LaserJet Pro, PageWide |
| Commercial / LFP | DesignJet (plotters), PageWide XL, latex printers |
| Gaming peripherals | HyperX (headsets, keyboards, mice — HP bought the brand) |
Interesting Modern Facts / Trends (2024–2025)
- HP is one of the very few PC companies that still designs & manufactures its own silicon (mostly for printers)
- Very big push on “AI PCs” — many new models have powerful NPUs (similar to Intel, AMD & Qualcomm competition)
- Very aggressive subscription printing strategy → HP+ / Instant Ink
- Very strong in education & government sectors (lots of Chromebooks + cheap reliable laptops)
- One of world’s largest purchasers & recyclers of recycled plastic for making new computers
- Very controversial long history of printer DRM / ink subscription / chip locking wars
Quick Brand Comparison Table (very simplified)
| Segment | HP’s Main Strength | Main Competitors |
|---|---|---|
| Premium thin laptops | Beautiful design + good battery | Dell XPS • Lenovo Yoga • MacBook |
| Business durable | Very good keyboards + security | Lenovo ThinkPad • Dell Latitude |
| Gaming | Good price/performance | ASUS ROG • Lenovo Legion • MSI |
| Home printing | Huge installed base + Instant Ink | Epson EcoTank • Brother • Canon |
| Office laser printing | Very strong reliability & service | Brother • Xerox • Canon |
| 3D printing | Growing fast – especially Multi Jet Fusion | Stratasys • Formlabs • Bambu Lab |
In one sentence summary:
HP Inc. today is one of the world’s largest PC + printing companies — it started in a legendary garage in 1939, invented many of the products we still use today, went through a huge split in 2015, and is now mainly focused on beautiful laptops, powerful workstations, gaming, and the never-ending battle in the printer + ink business.
References:
- HP Inc. Official Website - About HP
- HP Inc. Investor Relations - Financials & Reports
- Wikipedia - HP Inc.
- Wikipedia - Hewlett-Packard Company History