The decision was created with out an elegant CEO search and piled renewed criticism for the board, which Wall Street continues to be blamed -- at the least in portion -- to the storied Silicon Valley's recent missteps.
Whitman, an Web retail expert with a mixed reputation, just isn't an apparent selection to bring back HP, analysts stated. The failed California gubernatorial candidate transformed eBay from some dozen staff in 1998 right global Internet retail powerhouse, even so the final a lot of her reign were marked by sputtering growth, intensifying Wall Street criticism plus a string of unwise acquisitions, including of Skype.
Even though her elevation surprised a lot of using its seeming hastiness -- for any second time, internal candidates such as enterprise chief David Donatelli were passed over -- Apotheker's ejection ended up a matter of time.
He becomes the 3rd straight HP CEO shown the entrance.
"Some might be saying perhaps Meg Whitman isn't the proper person, either. She's not just a hardware individual," stated Auriga analyst Kevin Hunt. But HP "just wants someone to set the direction."
Analysts had speculated that Apotheker's departure may well presage a backtracking on main decisions taken during his 11-month term. But HP reassured investors using a conference call on Thursday that this board was not altering method once again.
Whitman stated HP remained committed to completing a evaluation of PC division prior to 4 seasons ends, and most likely to close the pricey $12 billion buying of British software program maker Autonomy Corp Plc as planned.
HP's shares closed down 4.8 percent at $22.80, eliminating significantly of Wednesday's 6.6 percent acquire.
"We would view any choice never to conduct an in depth search of external and internal candidates for just a permanent CEO role as unsatisfactory and unnecessarily hasty," Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi, who has been openly critical of HP's board, wrote inside of a note earlier on Thursday.
HP Chairman Ray Lane dismissed such concerns. He said the board chose Whitman soon after critical consideration understanding that her robust communication and operational execution abilities created her the very best candidate.
Questions?
In much less than a year at work, Apotheker, formerly SAP AG CEO, slashed HP's forecasts for three straight quarters and struggled to reverse a 50 percent plunge in the share price.
The storied Silicon Valley pc maker is fighting to bring back its crumbling credibility. Whitman needs to galvanize growth at a firm that gets far more than the usual third of its revenue originating from a slowing European economy, and it is struggling to offset sliding PC revenue with services and software program.
"We are near a vital moment and we require renewed leadership to successfully implement our technique and benefit from the market opportunities ahead," stated Lane, who moved from non-executive chairman to executive chairman on Thursday.
Whitman's record at eBay came under scrutiny during her failed campaign for California's governorship. Analysts question whether her stewardship of eBay ready her to help a sprawling enterprise and laptop or computer giant.
The billionaire is credited with catapulting eBay in to the upper echelons of your then-nascent e-commerce arena, and taking it public. But critics note she pushed hard to accumulate World wide web telephony service Skype, beginning a lengthy and ultimately fruitless attempt to wring value from it. EBay eventually unloaded it, and it were left with Microsoft Corp.
Her successor, John Donahoe, spent years engineering a turnaround and trying to rekindle stalled growth.
"While we believe my wife proven for being a really capable manager helping grow eBay from your start-up into one belonging to the largest Web firms, we think an ideal candidate for HP really should have extensive encounter within the enterprise market," Stern Agee analyst Shaw Wu said in the client note.
Greater selections would include HP enterprise chief Dave Donatelli and PC head Todd Bradley, two names which have also produced the rounds in Silicon Valley to your top job right after Mark Hurd's ouster in August 2010, he added.
On a a lot more personal level, opponents and media about the campaign trail recently raised questions about Whitman's fierce temper and imperious manner with staff, and even about her integrity soon after it emerged that this wealthy former CEO had employed an illegal alien maid.
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