HP tries to blame poor PC sales on Windows 10: numbers tell a different story.
Dion Weisler, CEO of PC and printers manufacturer Hewlett Packard, spoke to analysts, during am earning call on Wednesday, expressing that while “...Windows 10 is a tremendous operating system platform...”, he hasn’t seen “...the anticipated Win10 stimulation of demand that we would hope for...”.
Over the course of 2015, HP grabbed a fair share of tech media attention for splitting the company into two division, one solely dedicated to PCs(Hewlett Packard Enterprises), and the other focused on printing products (HP Inc.). The split was considered the “biggest ever of its kind” by The A-Channel’s Paul Kunert, in its irreverent, but spot on commentary.
The split was also unexpectedly smooth, according to what HP communicated directly to the Register, with a temporary three-day suspension from regular operations. With that said, the company’s bet on its massive restructuring didn’t seem to break the declining pattern in the sale of its PC lines, which have shown an 8.1 percent down revenue, to $25 Billions, in the third quarter of 2015.
The poor performance reported in this first quarter of 2016 by Weisler, are presented in a way that suggests HP is blaming Windows 10 for the continuous decline, however a quick look at the comparison between both PC and printer sales this year versus last year, tell a much different story.
If Windows 10 were to blame for the decline in PC sales manufactured by HP, the decline would be very specific to that category of products, instead the percentage difference across both HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprises has been progressing almost at an identical pace, with a decline of PC sales by an average 13 percent, alongside printer sales and supplies down 13-14 percent as well.
While it may be true that printer sales are struggling due to the lesser need for hardcopy, thanks for the ability to share documents across portable touchscreens, like smartphones and tablets, including signed documents, the pace at which overall sales have dropped across both divisions of Hewlett Packard, is suspiciously consistent, and doesn’t seem to add up, when looking at sales performance of competitors like Lenovo, Samsung and HP’s direct competitor, Seiko Epson Inc. which ended the year 2015 having made 21 Million dollars more than the previous year, according to its December 2015 earning report.
Finally, by admission of Dion Weisler’s, the company’s CEO told investors and analysts that “...Our PC lines are being redrawn at the moment, and the goal has been to gain profitable [market] share,...”, which is a pretty strong indication of upcoming changes in the way HP will be building and selling PCs in the future, possibly starting with quarter three, or four of this year.