I’ve been working with computers for decades. HP used to mean something. Now… now it means something to avoid.
TL/DR
- HP stopped being “Hewlett-Packard” in spirit around 1999, and legally in 2015.
- It became a shitty company by most standards in the 2000s, especially after the Compaq merger (that happened after the Agilent spin-off).
The founders’ engineering-driven culture was gutted, replaced by short-term profits and marketing-driven product cycles.
1. Structure, ownership, and the branding shift
Branding-wise, the name “Hewlett-Packard” was often shortened to “HP” as early as the 1970s and 1980s, especially in product marketing. But the actual legal rebranding and major structural shift happened in:
- 1999 – HP spun off its test and measurement division (the original heart of the company, including oscilloscopes and other scientific instruments) into a new company called Agilent Technologies. This marked the first major identity shift, turning HP into a more PC- and printer-focused company.
- 2015 – HP officially split into two separate publicly traded companies:
HP Inc. – Took over PCs and printers.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) – Took over servers, storage, and enterprise services.
That 2015 split was the final nail in the coffin of the old HP ethos.
2. Timeline of enshitification
It was a slow death, but here are the main milestones:
- 1999 (Agilent spin-off):
The innovative, engineering-focused part of HP was carved out. HP’s original identity died here, and the company began chasing consumer markets more aggressively. - 2002 (Compaq merger):
HP merged with Compaq under CEO Carly Fiorina. This move was controversial, diluted HP’s product lines, and marked a shift towards low-margin, mass-market PCs. - 2005–2010s:
A string of bad CEOs, strategy flip-flops, and corporate scandals:
Mark Hurd (2005-2010): slashed R&D to cut costs, prioritised short-term profits.
Leo Apotheker (2010-2011): tried to turn HP into a software company; killed the just-launched webOS tablets and TouchPad – disaster.
Meg Whitman (2011-2015): oversaw the 2015 split, tried to “fix” HP by making it smaller – too late. - Post-2015 (HP Inc.):
They doubled down on selling cheap printers and pulling a razor-and-blades scam (Wiki link) with overpriced ink. Laptops followed the same trend – mid to low-end junk. Innovation flatlined, and they lost all trust with DRM and firmware tricks that blocked third-party printer cartridges (cunts!).
Conclusion
HP went from engineering company to ink racket with a laptop side hustle.
And when people tried to save money? They bricked working hardware just to punish users.
Cunts
In a similar way that Phillips stopped being a good, high-quality company during the 90s, HP went to shit during the 2000s (but kept getting worse and worse over the following decades).
P.S. I still fondly remember those solid HP printers – and a poster from my elementary school (in the ’80s) that said: “I promise nothing, just test me!” Sigh.
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