HP recovering from Hurd scandal as new CEO puts his stamp on the company

He may as well be planning a significant shuffle in the top ranks: Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Apotheker is planning a March announcement of an overhaul that calls for moving longtime senior executive Ann Livermore to a position on HP's board, during giving two of her lieutenants -- executive vice presidents David Donatelli and Tom Hogan -- more responsibility for HP's commercial tech business.

Apotheker, a former head of German software giant SAP, is expected to put new emphasis on commercial software during promoting HP's ability to supply the computer systems and high-tech services that will help corporate clients shift more of their operations to a model known as "cloud-computing," in which information and services are accessed over the Internet.

Apotheker has made few public statements since he was hired last fall. However the new chief has already begun making changes at the company, announcing plans to hire a new chief marketing officer and recruiting a top communications adviser from SAP.

While Hurd was credited with building the company's profit margin and expanding into the lucrative business of tech services and consulting, analysts said they're looking for Apotheker to take the at once step of melding HP's different business segments in a comprehensive strategy.

With more than 300,000 employees and annual revenue of $126 billion, HP sells a wide range of tech products in markets around the world -- from PCs and printers to commercial servers, data storage and networking equipment.

The Palo Alto company is the world's leading seller of PCs, even though it shipped slightly fewer PCs last quarter as some consumers opted for new gadgets just as tablets and smartphones. HP is planning at once month to launch its own line of tablet computers, based on the webOS software it acquired by buying phone-maker Palm.

But analyst Jayson Noland of Robert W. Baird & Co. said HP's biggest prospects for growth are in the commercial tech sector, where HP has been moving to sell more high-margin computer networking and data storage systems.