Other aspects of combining the internal technology of the two companies have proved to be trickier. Peter Blackmore said in a speech last September that IT integration has been the toughest challenge of the merger process, with the "longest tail" of any of the animals the merged company has been faced with taming. Another area in which integration efforts are taking longer involves HP's international reach. In Europe, various local regulations prevent the merged companies from acting as one. HP said efforts in Europe are on track, but noted that in some countries, such as Germany, France and the Netherlands, not all of its plans have been implemented. "Europe is not the United States of Europe," said IDC analyst Crawford Del Prete. "Those countries all have different legislation...It's going to take longer in Europe." And too, the company has suffered some when it comes to market share. In both its server business and in PCs, the new HP has lost significant ground worldwide from where the two companies were separately a year ago. However, HP representatives said the company has gained share in both those markets during the last quarter. Finally, as it starts the new fiscal year, HP has also noticeably thinned its ranks. The company recently upped the number of jobs it expects to eliminate to 16,800, from an earlier estimate of 15,000 merger-related cuts. But all things considered, HP is doing pretty well, Del Prete said. "There was so much perception that (the merger) was going to be an absolute disaster." Instead, Del Prete said, HP has had product road maps from the (outset), and appears to be winning satisfaction from most of its customers. "The company is doing a decent job of keeping its promises," he said. The company is also starting to get some tentative approval from Wall Street. Although shares are down from when the merger closed, HP shares are up by more than 33 percent from an 9 October nadir of $11.16 (£7). HP closed Wednesday at exactly $15 a share. A number of Wall Street analysts made positive comments on HP this week, noting that the company is likely to beat earnings forecasts for the quarter. Much of that comes on the back of its printer business, which produces more profit than the company as a whole. However, several analysts expect HP to significantly narrow the loss in both its PC and Enterprise Systems businesses as the effects of layoffs and procurement cost savings begin to be felt. Fiorina said at a recent event sponsored by research company Gartner that HP would reach its goal of achieving $500m in post-merger cost savings by the end of this fiscal year. In the coming fiscal year, HP plans to take those cost savings up to $2.5bn. Analysts said HP may turn to further layoffs to boost its cost savings. "We would not be surprised if there (were) more headcount reductions announced in the future," Lehman Brothers analyst Dan Niles wrote in a research note this week.
For a round-up of the latest tech business coverage, see the Business News Section.
Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
