Lenovo knocks HP from top of global PC market: Gartner

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Lenovo Group Ltd edged out Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard Co to become the world's No. 1 PC maker in the third quarter, according to data released by research house Gartner on Wednesday.

A rival to Gartner, IDC, still ranks HP in the lead - but by less than half a percentage point - in terms of PC shipments worldwide. Both studies reinforce HP's struggles against rivals as new chief executive Meg Whitman tries to overhaul the stalled 73-year-old company.

Worldwide shipments of personal computers fell over 8 percent in the third quarter to 87.5 million, the steepest decline since 2001, Gartner analysts said.

PC demand growth has crumbled over the past year as more consumers flock to ultra-portable and increasingly powerful tablets and smartphones for basic computing.

"It's quite a tough year for PC makers because (Microsoft's) Windows 8 is not launched yet and some consumers are waiting for that. Cannibalisation of tablet PCs is also another factor," said Eve Jung, an analyst with Nomura Securities in Taipei.

Both sets of data show that Lenovo, Taiwan's Acer and other Asian PC makers are taking share away from U.S. competitors HP and Dell, which held on to the No. 3 spot in the quarter.

Lenovo, which has a market value of $8.2 billion, said it believed there was room for continued growth in the sector...

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HP Intros New Lineup of Windows 8 Consumer PCs

Hp has revealed a new set of desktops and laptops featuring Windows 8.

Gearing up for a big launch in October, HP is now teasing new desktops and laptops that will come packed with Microsoft's blocky "Modern UI" new operating system. Not to disappoint, there's seemingly something for everyone in this batch of hardware, ranging from thin and light "Sleekbooks" to the armor-plated high-performance desktop perfect for PC gamers.

Here's a quick breakdown of each without all the PR hoopla:

HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14 and Pavilion Sleekbook 15
* Start at $499.99 and $559.99, respectively and ships in NA on Oct. 26
* 14-inch and 15.5-inch HD displays
* Up to 1 TB of storage
* A full array of ports including HDMI, USB 3.0 and USB 2.0
* Pavilion Sleekbook 15 includes a numeric keypad
* HP TrueVision HD Webcams and HP MyRoom for video calling, sharing photos and more in a private virtual room
* Dolby Advanced Audio
* Optional discreet Nvidia graphics
* HP CoolSense for a cooler PC
* HP ProtectSmart to help prevent file loss in case of a bump
* Pavilion Sleekbook 14 is powered by AMD Accelerated Processors
* Pavilion Sleekbook 15 is powered by Intel processors and features Intel Hyper-Threading technology

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HP releases two beta versions of open-source webOS

IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard released two beta versions of its open source webOS on Friday: one for developers that runs on the Ubuntu Linux desktop, and one for the "OpenEmbedded" development environment, intended to help developers port webOS to new devices.

The August Edition, as the webOS team calls the latest release on the project website, consists of 45 open source webOS components and 450,000 lines of code. The two versions were released under the Apache 2.0 license, which is one of the most liberal and accepted in the open source community, the team said.

The beta desktop build includes a version of the webOS System Manager that will run as an application on the Ubuntu desktop, the team wrote. System Manager's functions include rendering the webOS Card View, Launcher, Status Bar and other user interface elements. Core webOS applications such as Calendar and Contacts run within System Manager, and the new version also supports apps built with the third party JavaScript framework Enyo, the team added.

Releasing a version of webOS for the OpenEmbedded platform was a natural choice, the team said, because of its widespread community adoption, excellent cross-compiling support for embedded platforms and support for multiple hardware architectures, the team wrote. The OpenEmbedded build of webOS includes an ARM emulator to run core services such as db8 and node.js, the team said...

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Intel leads tech industry in crusade to eliminate conflict minerals

Sometimes high-tech companies do what they say they are going to do. Intel, which has pledged to eliminate all minerals potentially sourced from "conflict" zones in the Congo from its microprocessors by the end of 2013, leads the list of technology companies that have made progress on this goal, reports the Enough Project.

Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola Solutions and Apple have all established policies that focus on removing so-called conflict minerals including tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, according to the organization's report, "Taking Conflict Out of Consumer Gadgets: Company Rankings on Conflict Minerals 2012."

Six other companies have taken steps toward establishing broader policies: SanDisk, Philips, Sony, Panasonic, RIM and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

But game technology company Nintendo gets called out for the opposite reason: it hasn't done anything about this yet, at least not publicly.

"HP and Intel have gone above and beyond the call of duty on conflict minerals," says Sash Lezhnev, an Enough Project analyst who co-authored the report. "It is now time to level the playing field for all companies, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has a key role to play in its upcoming vote on the rules for the conflict minerals law on August 22."...

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HP Offering Motherboard Fix for 3 Pavillion Desktops

Hewlett-Packard said on Tuesday that it has identified a high rate of motherboard failures in its popular Pavilion line of desktop PCs built in June and July 2010. The company said these system boards have a "slightly higher than expected failure rate" although a specific problem wasn't addressed.

According to the announcement, the affected machines include Pavilion Elite HPE-4xx, Pavilion P66xx and Pavilion Slimline S5660f desktops. "[These] computers may experience no video at start up and stop responding," said HP in its email to desktop owners.

The affected machines won't be recalled, but rather HP will extend their warranty for another twelve months. Customers who already have an expired warranty will have one year to report the problem. Either way, HP will replace the motherboard free of charge, and will even pay for round-trip shipping...

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HP to cut 27,000 jobs

IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard will trim 27,000 employees as part of its long-term restructuring plan, the company said Wednesday when it announced quarterly financial results.

The company will shed about 8% of its workforce through a combination of layoffs and retirement offers that started last Oct. 31 and will continue through the end of its 2014 fiscal year, HP said. Employee reduction plans vary by country.

In a statement, HP said it expects the restructuring program will save $3 billion to $3.5 billion through fiscal year 2014. A majority of those savings will be reinvested in the company, HP said.

The job cuts are "difficult" but they also are "necessary to improve execution and to fund long-term health" of HP, CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement.

HP also announced that its net income for the second quarter, which ended April 30, was $1.6 billion, a drop of 31% over the same quarter a year ago. It reported revenue of $30.7 billion, down 3%.

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HP unveils its first business ultrabook

The new ultrabook and other products come shortly after the company decided not to sell its PC business

IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard introduced Wednesday its first business ultrabook, offering nine hours of battery life, a solid-state drive, and a security chip that protects data in email and information on the hard drive.

The roll out by HP comes less than a month after the company said that its Personal Systems Group (PSG), which deals in PCs, smartphones and tablets, will stay with the company. HP had earlier talked about evaluating options for this business.

The company also expanded Wednesday its ultraportable consumer notebook PC line with the HP Pavilion dm4, including a Beats Edition. Beats Audio technology was developed by HP in collaboration with artist and producer Dr. Dre, and chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, the company said.

HP also introduced Envy 15, Envy 17, and Envy 17 3D notebooks, which will be available in the U.S. on Dec. 7, besides two wireless accessories.

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HP confirms layoffs at Palm unit

Network World - HP has started laying off workers associated with last year's billion-dollar acquisition of Palm, as it closes down the mobile device business it planned to base on Palm's webOS. The news comes almost exactly a month after HP announced a sweeping reorganization and refocusing of its business.

News reports say that HP has confirmed the layoffs have begun, but declined to say how many will end up with pink slips. AllThingsD, The Wall Street Journal's tech blog, says the number could reach 525.

TIMELINE: The decline, further decline and collapse of webOS

"As part of this decision, the webOS (unit) is undergoing a reduction in workforce," according to the HP statement.

HP bought the struggling Palm last year, to launch a new mobile product line based on webOS, which was introduced by Palm with the Pre smartphone. This summer, HP unveiled the HP TouchPad, its first entry in the hot tablet computer market.

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