So, after weeks of speculation about a management schism at Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), Carly Fiorina has stepped down as the companys CEO, at the board's request (see HP CEO Steps Down).
Speaking on a conference call this morning, HP board members admitted they asked Fiorina to step down. This followed weeks of deliberation amongst board members, according to HP director Patricia Dunn.
HP execs on the call said that no single event prompted the decision to oust Fiorina, although they admitted that there were differences between the board and Fiorina on the issue of "execution."
The Palo Alto, Calif., firm recently announced plans to reorganize its business, by combining its PC and printing divisions. However, other parts of the HP empire are currently under-performing and could be in line for an overhaul, including its storage business.
This was particularly evident in the companys recent financial results. For the third quarter of 2004, HPs revenues from enterprise servers and storage were down 5 percent year over year. At the time, HP admitted that its storage business was "significantly below plan."
