HP goes from tech colossus to product reseller

Few business landscapes change as frequently as the technology market does and many of the corporate giants that controlled the market a few years are now struggling to change and remain relevant. One such company is Hewlett-Packard which announced today that it will be selling a new line of networking switches. However, neither the switches themselves nor the open-source software that they run on will be developed by HP, meaning it’s basically just a reseller. 

Hewlett-Packard said on Thursday that it would sell a new line of networking switches that are manufactured by a Taiwanese company and depend on Linux-based, open-source software from another company. HP, once at the center of high-tech manufacturing, will not make the new networking equipment but will act as a reseller, providing both online ordering and worldwide support for the product. It is the most consequential announcement from HP since its chief executive, Meg Whitman, announced last October that the company would split into two separate enterprises. One will be focused on business, and the other on consumer-type products. The networking move, firmly in the area of business technology, shows the type of changes HP and other older tech giants must make to survive in a transforming marketplace.