Is HP the new IBM?

Talk about dropping bombshells on the industry late at night!

Sitting in my lounge last night thinking about the channel awards, I happened to glance at Twitter (as you do) and saw the news about HP start to do the rounds.

In a move eerily familiar (IBM/Lenovo anyone?) new chief Apotheker said the company was considering the sale or at the very least spin-off of its PSG division over the next 12-18 months.

The vendor also canned the recently launched TouchPad (pictured) and is 'exploring alternatives' for its WebOS operating system.

Oh and it bought software company Autonomy for around $10bn (£7bn). Quite an ironic name for the UK-based company now though, eh?

Just an ordinary night (or day if you live in US time) for HP then .

I thanked my stars for not being able to sleep so I was able to get an early story up on Channelweb.

I have been following HP for the past 11 years - though its ups and downs, channel conflicts and times of channel contentment (I think there have been a few brief minutes).

It doesn't seem like five minutes since HP bought Compaq as it strived to be number one in the PC marketplace.

But as we all know margins are practically non-existent on PCs, and the landscape is changing constantly as the major players jostle for the top spot.

So will this spark a mad scramble from the likes of Dell, Lenovo et al to buy HP's PSG division and take it out of the picture?

I bet Apple is rubbing its hands together in glee.

What will this mean for its channel partners? obviously we will be asking questions and expecting answers.

But more importantly - where is HP going next?

I remember when IBM sold its PC division to Lenovo as it poured resources into its software business. At the time a lot of questions were raised, but with the meteoric rise of the cloud, IBM's early actions seem to have stood it in good stead.

But can another giant repeat that success or has it missed the boat?

I will be very interested to hear all your thoughts, and can't wait to chat to HP about it.