While I know that HP can be cool place to work, the outside perception isn't nearly as cool. HP's new CEO, Leo Apotheker, however, envisions HP to be just as cool as Apple. In an interview ith BBC, Apotheker said that “the Internet is going totally mobile, the bandwidth is there ... so many technologies are converging, and HP is the one company that can put it all together. We want to be the leader in this.”
“I hope one day people will say 'this is as cool as HP,' not 'as cool as Apple,'" Apotheker said. He hinted to a few drastic changes on this path. HP will kill the Palm brand and launch new products at its February 9 event as HP products. There is a clear desire to own a certain "wow factor", as Apotheker called it, that will support the future growth of the company. He sees much more potential in the company than has been leveraged in the past: “Shame on us, though,” Apotheker added. “ I don’t think HP has been telling its story as well as it could over the past few years.
It is difficult to walk into an electronics store and have the specific intent look for certain HP products today. Apotheker has a lot of work ahead. However, there has always been the notion in the industry that HP has the talent and resources to take on Apple in design and marketing. The company just needs to proof that it can really do it.
