Capellas Memo to Worldwide Staff
by: skeptically 02/06/02 09:39 am
Msg: 272432 of 272440
213.219.40.69
Capellas launches charm, offensive against Walt
Loneliness of a long distance runner
By Mike Magee, 06/02/2002 09:28:27 BST
COMPAQ STAFF WORLDWIDE had this E-Missive from Mike Capellas when they yawned and opened their inboxes this fine morning:
To: Compaq Global Team
During the next day or two, you will see news reports about a letter that Walter Hewlett is sending to HP shareholders urging them to vote against the proposed Compaq/HP merger.
Compaq and HP will begin mailing our joint proxy/prospectus to shareholders on Wednesday, and we plan an aggressive campaign to communicate with shareholders and win their support for the merger. The special shareholder meetings will be held on March 19 (HP) and March 20 (Compaq).
We are more convinced than ever that this merger is the best way to increase value for employees, customers and shareholders. It will enable us to achieve three strategic objectives:
* Expand our enterprise capabilities across products, software and solutions. HP's strength in data center UNIX and management software together with our strengths in industry standard servers, enterprise storage and high performance computing will give us the richest enterprise portfolio in the industry.
* Grow and achieve critical mass in global services. We will double the size of our service business and extend our reach into new markets and growth opportunities.
* Improve the economics of the PC business while driving innovation in new markets and new categories of devices.
In his letter, Walter Hewlett quotes me as saying that the PC business is a "rotten business."
He took those words from the transcript of an employee broadcast that I did with Carly Fiorina, HP's Chairman and CEO, in California on Dec. 4. Here is what I said:
"If you think of the world of the PC business as the standard, all-beige box, then I think it is a rotten business. If you think of what the next generation [of access will be], this is all about creating the next generation of consumer Internet experience. The combination of where the Internet will be is that intersection point between the Internet, distributed and very, very rich content, starting with music, extending out into [audio] and video . . . Think of what we can do in the future."
The fact is that the PC business is a strategic business, with significant opportunities for growth and profitability. I'm proud of the progress we've made in our PC business under difficult circumstances. I'm proud of the outstanding record of innovation that our PC team continues to build. And I'm proud that this will continue to be a strategic business in the combined company.
This merger is about the future of computing - not the past. It is about building on the complementary strengths of two great companies. It is about industry leadership. It is about creating significant value for customers based on a rich portfolio of technology and a clear understanding of customer needs.
We remain confident that shareholders will see the compelling value in this combination and will vote to support the merger.
Michael |
