Hewlett-Packard hired CEO Meg Whitman last year to turn the company around, but judging by HP's tumbling stock prices, she still has a long way to go. With computer sales slumping as customers move to newer mobile devices, HP released a grim profit outlook for the coming year on Wednesday, sending its shares dropping seven percent. Whitman is getting a lot of free advice from armchair advisers, some of whom have urged her to buy BlackBerry maker Research in Motion to gain instant access to the smartphone market, but she flatly says that's out of the question. Should she reconsider?
Yes. This is HP's only hope: Hewlett-Packard and RIM "have one choice if they hope to survive," says Rocco Pendola at The Street. Apple and other well-positioned competitors are eating them both for breakfast right now, but if they consolidate — and even join forces with another dinosaur, Dell — they might actually have "a fighting chance." Then at least HP would have a solid smartphone to offer. After that, it could hire innovative hotshots and "create some excitement."
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