Steve Jobs: HP is being “dismembered and destroyed”

Last Updated on Monday, 24 October 2011 02:53 Written by Ismail Selman Kimyacioglu Monday, 24 October 2011 02:50

Recently deceased Apple founder Steve Jobs was highly critical of Hewlett-Packard’s recent change of direction, his autobiography will reveal.

The Next Web reports that Jobs told his official biographer Walter Issacson how disappointed he was to see what had happened to the company that had been his childhood inspiration.

“Hewlett and Packard built a great company, and they thought they had left it in good hands,” Jobs told Isaacson. “But now it’s being dismembered and destroyed.

“I hope I’ve left a stronger legacy so that will never happen at Apple.”

 Jobs held HP founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in high regard, referring to them as his “idols” during a speech in his former hometown of Cupertino, California. Jobs had been marking the beginning of work on what would be a new Apple HQ, built on an old HP site.

The Apple visionary said the land was very special to him, and recounted how he had called Hewlett as a teenager to ask for parts for a project he was working on, and ended up being offered a job with the company.

Jobs’ criticism concerns HP’s recent turn at reinventing itself, which included the poorly received announcement it may sell its PC division and move towards software. CEO Leo Apotheker has since been replaced with Meg Whitman.

Commenting on Jobs’ criticism, Cnet writer Brooke Crothers said: “You don’t build a great company by dismantling it and then trying to clone the strategies of other, less-successful companies.
Certainly not if you’re HP. Let’s hope HP’s board is smart enough to see Jobs’ rebuke for what it is: good advice.”

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