RESCUECOM Featured in PCWorld Article on HP

HP Looking to Sell PC Business

HP Allays Fears Around PC Business Uncertainty


PCWorld
August 22, 2011


Business continues as usual for Hewlett-Packard's PC unit, which will continue to support and sell products as the company explores options to spin off or sell the Personal Systems Group, HP said on Monday.

Amidst uncertainty regarding the fate of its PC business, HP announced on Monday the Compaq 8200 Elite business all-in-one desktop, with a three-year warranty for parts and labor and on-site and phone support services. HP will ensure the full support and warranty commitment for the desktop is met, a company spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

"We understand customers may have questions about support, so you will see us increasing our communications to customers about our commitment. We absolutely stand by our products, support and customers. Consumers and businesses can buy with confidence," the spokeswoman said.

HP last week said it would explore the sale or spin-off of the PSG unit, which markets PCs and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. For HP, a slowdown in PC sales and its razor-thin margins are a drag as it emphasizes more profitable business areas such as enterprise software, services and hardware.

HP's first action in restructuring was to liquidate its inventory of smartphones and TouchPad tablets, which were selling at bargain basement prices over the weekend. Retailers Best Buy and Staples sold all HP tablets and smartphones in a matter of hours on Saturday. The devices run on the webOS software, around which HP will continue to develop and explore business opportunities.

Beyond the new Compaq desktop, the company will announce new PCs later this year to fill out its line of laptops and desktops.

One HP customer, Brent Woodruff exchanged his TouchPad for Apple's iPad 2 with Best Buy because of worries around support for the webOS operating system and services with the TouchPad. He also owns an HP laptop and netbook, and is not concerned about support for those products.

"I'm not worried about either. Whichever entity picks up their PC business will probably take on the support contracts and warranties also, similar to the IBM-Lenovo deal," said, Woodruff, a computer engineer in Tallahassee, Florida.

IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo in 2005 to focus on the higher-margin software and services business.

The sales and support transition for products like the ThinkPad laptop from IBM to Lenovo was smooth, and any transition will be similarly smooth for HP, said Josh Kaplan, CEO of Rescuecom, a computer repair firm.

"HP's had a great track record with tech support ... they are not just going to alienate customers," Kaplan said.

HP is also the world's largest PC maker so there will be no shortage of parts, Kaplan said. HP has consistently ranked as one of the better support providers, and it will try to maintain that status even in transition.

However, there are questions around support for webOS, and owners of devices based on that OS could be squeezed, Kaplan said.

Users posting in Internet forums also weren't worried about support in the wake of HP's announcement, saying warranties won't be voided and HP had a duty to meet its commitments.

"Whether or not somebody is happy with his/her level of support from HP will vary based on their personal experience, but what is happening at HP right now will not affect their level of tech support/warranty, for better or for worse," wrote a poster in Notebook Review's forums.

EV7gXlsIJ-s

Google Reviews

Carli Wittkowski
Carli Wittkowski
in the last week
Amazing service! This is my first time with Rescuecom and I am extremely pleased. Great Customer se
...Amazing service! This is my first time with Rescuecom and I am extremely pleased. Great Customer service and so very helpful. I would most definitely recommend. less
Karen Beller
Karen Beller
a week ago
Rescuecom is excellent. I was scammed and Roy cleared my desktop. Excellent service and Roy was very
...Rescuecom is excellent. I was scammed and Roy cleared my desktop. Excellent service and Roy was very knowledgeable. Thank You. less
Robin Penick-Funderburk
Robin Penick-Funderburk
2 weeks ago
A hacker with the alias "DEATHRIDGE" entered a company Teams meeting via someone invited as a guest,
...A hacker with the alias "DEATHRIDGE" entered a company Teams meeting via someone invited as a guest, and started taking control of my computer and my life. They sent emails pretending to be me that really looked like they were coming from me. They tried to take control of our corporate bank accounts, added themselves as a user to my Microsoft account, and locked me out of my computer as my passwords no longer worked. My ability to run a telecom company ground to a halt, and all my company and personal information was at their fingertips. I felt so helpless, and I needed folks smarter than the hacker(s) to do battle for me. Our typical computer pros couldn't handle it, and neither could other "experts" I called. Lucky for me I called RESCUECOM, and they immediately got to work. They didn't complain though I was asking for help in the middle of the night, but immediately got to work and worked non-stop to restore everything and protect me going forward. The team at RESCUECOM are my knights in shining armor, and they're the absolute best! less
Krishna Kambhampati
Krishna Kambhampati
2 months ago
Roy was very helpful for fixing my booting issue. I called really late (10pm) and there was someone
...Roy was very helpful for fixing my booting issue. I called really late (10pm) and there was someone to answer my call. I would recommend them to anyone that needs tech support. less
View all Google reviews

Featured in:


Feature Inthe New York TimesFOX NEWSUSA TodayComputer WorldCNNForbes