Well I'm not the only one speculating about HPQ. Going back even before the merger of CPQ there has be a constant whirlwind of comment about HPQ's ability to manage its' computer business. Carley opted to make the computer side of things bigger in an attempt to improve profitability while IBM has chosen to retain only those parts of the hardware business that it has a clear and dominant position in.
Clearly, the computer side of things, particularly non-printer hardware, are not adding to the bottom line in a worthwhile way. HPQ has some larger decisions to make besides whether or not to jettison Itanium. The move to commodity servers would eliminate a lot of overhead and move the business model a lot closer to Dell's. The problem is that complications surrounding "Big Iron" is what gives rise to the profitable side of HPQ's consulting business. Trying to get users to spend the same amounts on support for commodity servers might prove a trick.
Anyway you look at it AMD is at the center of this maelstrom. Can you imagine how cozy things would still be if AMD hadn't become such a disruptive force. You have got to love it.
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