HP to combine PC, printer divisions, according to a report

Hewlett-Packard is to combine its PC and printer divisions into a single business unit, a move that will see Vyomesh "VJ" Joshi, the longtime head of HP's printer division, leave the company, according to a report published Tuesday. HP plans to announce the move later today, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal's All Things D blog, which cited unnamed sources. An HP spokesman said the company declined to comment on the report. It would be the first sweeping change at HP since former eBay chief Meg Whitman took over as CEO last September. Whitman was brought in to right HP's ship after the company replaced two CEOs in a little over a year and appeared to lose its direction. HP's Personal Systems Group, which makes its PCs and laptops, is the biggest division at the company, pulling in $8.9 billion in revenue last quarter. The Imaging and Printing Group, traditionally one of its most profitable groups, brought in $6.3 billion. Together they account for about half of HP's total sales. Under the reorganization, the Imaging and Printing Group will be subsumed by the Personal Systems Group, and the combined division will be led byTodd Bradley, the executive vice president who today runs the Personal Systems Group, All Things D reported.