HP replaces PC chief amid slump

Hewlett-Packard chief executive Meg Whitman is reorganising the personal computer business, replacing long-time head Todd Bradley with one of his deputies as she strives to overcome a worsening global industry slump.

Bradley is becoming executive vice-president for strategic growth, charged with expanding in China and forming alliances with start-ups around the world.

Dion Weisler, hired by Bradley last year from Lenovo to lead personal computers and printing in Asia, is assuming global responsibility for those units.

Whitman is working to turn around HP after seven consecutive quarters of declining sales and years of management tumult and strategic missteps.

While the company overtook Dell to reclaim the top position in personal computers for six years under Bradley, it has been slow to follow users in their shift away from desktop machines to smartphones and tablets.

"Todd went from running half of HP to looking at little companies, which seems like a demotion," said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI. "Weisler isn't a known entity on the street but is battle-tested and worked at a high level job at Lenovo."

Under former chief executive Leo Apotheker, HP weighed a spin-off of the personal-computer division - a proposal that Whitman scrapped. The company still plans to keep the computer and printing divisions, a spokesman said, adding the job change represented "a lateral move" for Bradley.