Monday, June 04, 2007

Hewlett-Packard Co. is riding high today as the world's undisputed leader of personal-computer sales, but that's not how Todd Bradley found things when he joined the company in 2005.

Dell Inc. was the top PC maker that year, when H-P Chief Executive Mark Hurd hired Mr. Bradley to run the company's PC business. H-P's PC operations were barely profitable, morale was foundering and some investors were suggesting H-P get out of PCs altogether.

H-P owes that remarkable turnabout to something Mr. Bradley concluded within weeks of arriving at the Palo Alto, Calif., company: H-P was fighting on the wrong battlefield. H-P was concentrating its resources to fight Dell where Dell was strong, in direct sales over the Internet and phone. Instead, he decided, H-P should focus on its strength, retail stores, where Dell had no presence at all. H-P was neglecting that advantage, Mr. Bradley found as he visited retailers and H-P factories, hearing complaints about late or incomplete deliveries. He worked hard to fix the logistical snafus and build better relations with the retailers, helping H-P surpass Dell in world sales late last year for the first time since 2003.

Labels: PC