HP is not killing off its PC division

HP will be keeping its PC division after all, according to a press released put out by the company today.

“HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG [personal computing group] within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees,” said chief executive Meg Whitman in a statement.

The company has changed its plans repeatedly since its second quarter earnings call, when it announced it was acquiring enterprise software company Autonomy and would be getting rid of its Web OS division, Palm, and potentially its now saved PC division. Soon thereafter, HP canned its chief executive Leo Apotheker and replaced him with former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman. Upon taking her position, Whitman pledged to stay the course, bringing a little continuity back to a company whose head very well may be spinning.

The review process involved looking at data on how deeply integrated the PC business was into HP overall. The company also looked at how the PC division affected its brand, and inevitably its bottom-line, realizing that to spin off the division was much more expensive than to keep it in-house.

“The HP board of directors is confident that PSG can drive profitable growth as part of the larger entity and accelerate solutions from other parts of HP’s business,” read the press release.

What a way to start off as chief executive.

[Photo: Meg Whitman for Governor/Flickr]