Hewlett-Packard
HP” redirects here. For other uses, see HP
The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is currently the world's largest information technology corporation (by revenue) and is known worldwide for its printers, personal computers and related services. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States, it has a global presence in the fields of computing, printing, and digital imaging, and also provides software and services. The company, which once catered primarily to engineering and medical markets—a line of business it spun off as Agilent Technologies in 1999—now markets to households and small business products such as printers, cameras and ink cartridges found in grocery and department stores.
HP posted US$91.7 billion in annual revenue in 2006[1] compared to US$91.4 for IBM, making it the world's largest technology vendor in terms of sales. HP is now the No. 1 ranking company in worldwide personal computer shipments, surpassing rival Dell, market research firms Gartner and IDC reported in October 2006;[2] the gap between HP and Dell widened substantially at the end of 2006, with HP taking a near 3.5% market share lead.
Company history
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard both graduated from Stanford University in 1934. The company originated in a garage in nearby Palo Alto while they were post-grad students at Stanford during the Great Depression. The partnership was formalised on January 1, 1939 with an investment of US$538.[3] Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. Dave won the coin toss but named their electronics manufacturing enterprise the "Hewlett-Packard Company."
HP incorporated on August 8, 1947, and went public on November 6, 1957.
Of the many projects they worked on, their first financially successful product was a precision audio oscillator, the Model 200A. Their innovation was the use of a small light bulb as a temperature dependent resistor in a critical portion of the circuit. This allowed them to sell the Model 200A for $54.40 when competitors were selling less stable oscillators for over $200. The Model 200 series of generators continued until at least 1972 as the 200AB, still tube-based but improved in design through the years. At 33 years, it was perhaps the longest-selling basic electronic design of all time.
One of the company's earliest customers was The Walt Disney Company, who bought eight Model 200B oscillators (at $71.50 each) for use in certifying the Fantasound surround sound systems installed in theaters for the movie Fantasia.
FOCUS
The company was originally rather unfocused, working on a wide range of electronic products for industry and even agriculture. Eventually they elected to focus on high-quality electronic test and measurement equipment. Throughout the 1940s to well into the 1990s the company
focused on making signal generators, voltmeters, oscilloscopes, counters, and other test equipment. Their distinguishing feature was pushing the limits of measurement range and accuracy. For instance, almost every HP voltmeter or signal generator has one or more extra clicks of its knobs than its competitors. HP volt- or ammeters would measure down and up an extra 10 to 100 times the units of other meters. Although there were good reasons why competing meters stopped at 1 volt full scale, HP engineers figured out ways of extending the range of their equipment by a considerable amount. They also focused on extreme accuracy and stability, leading to a wide range of very accurate, precise, and stable frequency counters, voltmeters, thermometers, and time standards.
