HP grabs former palmOne CEO to head PC biz

Bradley asked to fix ailing unit

By Ashlee Vance in Chicago • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Director, 13th June 2005 20:35 GMT

HP has picked up former palmOne CEO Todd Bradley to run its PC and gadget business.

Bradley, 46, spent three years as palmOne's CEO before leaving the company in February. At HP, Bradley will serve as EVP in charge of the Personal Systems Group (PSG) - the unit responsible for PCs, workstations, monitors and handhelds.

"Todd Bradley is an outstanding executive with a long track record of growing businesses, executing against plans and exceeding targets," said Mark Hurd, HP's CEO. "His experience driving growth and profitability in highly competitive hardware fields make him well-suited for this position."

HP had combined its PSG and Printing and Imaging businesses in January under the leadership of Vyomesh (V.J) Joshi. Now, however, HP plans to make PSG a standalone business once again, leaving Joshi in charge of just printing and imaging products.

Bradley will face the very serious challenge of returning consistency to the PSG unit. HP's computer business has long waffled between profit and loss as it struggles to compete against Dell and other low-cost PC makers.

Difficult conditions, however, won't be a shocker for Bradley who endured much turmoil during his tenure at palmOne. He led the acquisition of Handspring and worked to define the company after the original Palm split into separate hardware and software entities. ®