Hewlett-Packard (HP), founded in 1947, is an American information technology company that provides technologies, products and services to businesses and individuals in various industries. HP is a major PC manufacturer and its main product lines include computers, data storage devices, software and imaging productsHistoryThe history of HP began in 1939 in a garage in Palo Alto with an initial investment of $538 by by William Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard (see Figure 1 ). HP was founded in 1947 and 10 years later it was listed on the stock exchange. The first financially successful project was a precision audio oscillator, model HP200A (see Figure 2). One of the largest buyers of Oscillator was Walt Disney Productions. From the 1940s HP concentrated on the production of electronic test equipment. The main feature of HP instruments was sensitivity and accuracy. In the 1960s HP began a partnership with Sony and Yokogawa Electric in Japan. To market HP products in Japan, two companies established a joint venture in 1963 (Yokogawa-Hewlett-Packard). In 1999 HP bought Yokogawa's share. In 1968 HP introduced the first Hewlett-Packard 9100A “Personal Computer” (see Figure 4). During the period 1972-1979 HP introduced several high-quality products such as scientific electronic calculators. In 1984 HP began manufacturing the first inkjet and laser printers, developing them into successful single-unit printer-scanner-copier-fax machines. In 2004, HP launched the DV 1000 series, which includes the HP Pavilion DV 1658 and HP Pavilion DV 1040. In 2006, HP started the “Computer is Personal Again” campaign to remind people of the fact that the computer is a personal product. In 2011 HP announced that it will not participate in the smartphone and tablet business, but will focus on s...... half of the paper ...... per unit sales in the personal computer market (16.2% ). Its main competitors were Lenovo Inc. with 16.9%, Dell (11.6%), Acer (8.1%) and ASUS (6.3%). HP is the largest supplier in the printing and imaging market with a market share of more than 42.5%. Canon has the second largest share (17.5%), Epson is in third place with a 14% share. The profitability of HP and its competitors is shown in Figure 13. The president and CEO of HP Company is Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay Inc. The executive president of the company is Raymond J. Lane. HP's operations are directed from its headquarters in Palo Alto, California, USA. HP's Board of Directors consists of 12 members. They are elected every year. The Board of Directors is composed of several committees: Audit Committee Technology Committee Human Resources and Compensation Committee Nominating, Governance and Social Responsibility Committee Finance and Investment Committee