1934-1939
HP was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and David Packard.
The company was built in an automobile garage in Palo Alto, and its first product was the Acoustic Frequency Oscillator, an electronic test instrument used by sound engineers.
HP's first customer was Walt Disney Studios, where the classic movie Fantasia developed and tested innovative sound systems.
In 1934, Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett, fresh out of Stanford University's electrical engineering department, went on a two-week fishing safari in the Colorado mountains.
They became close friends because they saw eye to eye on many things.
Since then, Bill has gone on to graduate school at Stanford and MIT, and David has taken a job at General Electric.
With the encouragement and support of Fred Terman, a professor and mentor at Stanford, the two decided to start their own company and run it.
In 1938, Mr. and Mrs. David moved to 376 Addison Street in Palo Alto, California.
Bill Hewlett rented a cabin right behind the house.
Bill and David used $538 as working capital and spent their spare time working out of the garage.
Bill used his research project, Negative Feedback, to develop the first Hewlett-Packard product: a resistive acoustic oscillator (HP200A), an electronic instrument used to test audio equipment.
The oscillator used an incandescent lamp as an electrical component in the electrical wiring diagram to provide variable impedance, which was a breakthrough in oscillator design.
Using the principle of feedback, several other early HP products were produced, such as the Harmonic Analyzer and a variety of distortion analyzers.
Walt Disney Pictures orders eight oscillators (HP 200B) for the production of the movie Fantasia.
On January 1, 1939, the partnership was formed.
1940-1959
The partnership's products were instantly popular in the engineering and scientific communities.
Bill and David contracted with sales agents to place their best-selling products on the market throughout the United States.
During World War II, the U.S. *** had a growing need for electronic instruments, and sales of Hewlett-Packard products grew.
HP added new products and built its first corporate building.
In 1940, the company moved from a garage to a leased building at Page Mill Road and EI Camino Real in Palo Alto.
The company gives its employees their first bonus - a $5 Christmas bonus.
Later, it became a production bonus, and then an internal profit-sharing program.
Net revenues: $34,000; employees: 3; product lines: 8.
In 1942, HP constructed its first building (known as the Redwood Building), a 10,000-square-foot office, laboratory, and factory facility located at 395 Page Mill Road in Palo Alto.
This location was chosen with the idea of converting the building into a grocery store if the electronics industry tanked.
In 1943, Hewlett-Packard entered the field of microwave technology by developing signal generators and radar jammers for the Naval Research Laboratory.
In World War II, Hewlett-Packard was recognized as a leader in the signal generator industry for its complete line of microwave test products.
On August 18, 1947, HP was incorporated as a stock corporation.
In 1951, Hewlett-Packard invented the high-speed frequency counter (HP 524A), which dramatically reduced the time required to measure high frequencies (from about 10 minutes to 1 to 2 seconds).
Application: The HP 524A is used by radio stations to accurately set frequencies (e.g. 104.7FM).
This meets the requirements of the FCC regulations for frequency stability.
Net revenue: $5.5 million, 215 employees.
In 1958, Hewlett-Packard made its first successful acquisition: the F. L. Moseley Company (Pasadena, California), a manufacturer of high-quality graphic recorders.
This acquisition marked HP's entry into the plotter industry.
Net revenues: $30 million; employees: 1,778; product line: 373.
In 1959, moved away from its home base in California, established a marketing organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and built its first foreign product manufacturing facility in Boeblingen, West Germany.
1960-1969
Hewlett-Packard continued to grow steadily in the test and measurement product market and began to venture into other related areas such as electronic medical instruments and analytical instruments.
HP was already recognized as a rapidly advancing, well-managed and enviable company.
In 1960, the first U.S. processing plant other than Palo Alto was established in Loveland, Colorado.
In 1961, entered the medical field with the acquisition of Sanborn Corporation (Waltham, Massachusetts).
Hewlett-Packard stock, HWP, is officially listed and traded on the New York Stock Market and the Pacific Stock Market.
In 1962, Hewlett-Packard made its debut on Happiness Magazine's list of the 500 largest U.S. companies at number 460.
Since then, HP has risen in the Happiness Magazine rankings every year.
In 1963, the first joint venture was established in Tokyo, Japan: Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard Company (Joint Venture: Yokogawa Electronics Corporation).
In 1964, the company celebrated its 35th anniversary.
David Packard is elected Chairman and Bill Hewlett becomes President.
The atomic cesium time standard, the HP 5060A, is widely recognized around the world as the "Flying Clock".
The HP 5060A is used in every region of the world to synchronize with International Standard Time.
In 1965, Hewlett-Packard entered the analytical instrumentation field with the acquisition of F&M Technologies (Avondale, Pennsylvania).
Net revenue: $165 million; employees: 9,000.
In 1966, the company's central research facility, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, was founded.
It is one of the world's leading electronics research centers.
HP designed the first computer product (HP 2116A), which was used as a controller on test and measurement instruments.
HP offers a full line of computer products.
In 1967, Hewlett-Packard's Boeblingen, Germany-based company introduced a non-contact fetal heart rate monitor to measure the condition of the fetus during labor.
The company also pioneered the concept of flexible working, which has become commonplace in HP organizations worldwide.
In 1968, the world's first desktop scientific calculator, the HP 9100A, was introduced.
It was the precursor to HP's high-performance workstation line today.
In 1969, David Packard became the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense (term 1969-1971).
HP introduced the first time-sharing system to the market, in which a microcomputer could be used by up to 16 users at a time.
1970-1979
Hewlett-Packard continues its tradition of innovation and introduces the first pocket-sized scientific calculator.
By the end of the 1970s, the company had experienced significant growth in profitability and in its workforce.
Bill Hewlett and David Packard entrusted the day-to-day running of the company to John Young.
In 1970, net operating income: $365 million; number of employees: 16,000.
In 1971, laser technology was used to produce a laser interferometer that could measure the length of a millionth of an inch.
The HP laser jammer is still the instrument of choice in microprocessor chip manufacturing.
In 1972, Hewlett-Packard introduced the groundbreaking first personal computing tool: the HP-35 handheld scientific calculator, and made the engineering calculator ruler obsolete.
Entered the computing space with the HP 3000 microcomputer.
In 1973, the HP Small General Purpose Computer System became the computing world's first distributed data processing system.
In 1974, produced the first microcomputer based on 4K Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMs), which replaced magnetic cores.
In 1975, Hewlett-Packard simplified instrumentation systems by developing standard interfaces.
The electronics industry adopted the Hewlett-Packard Interface Bus, HP-IB, as the international interface standard, allowing multiple instruments to be easily connected to a computer.
In 1977, John Young became president of Hewlett-Packard (and CEO in 1978).
By the 1980s, Hewlett-Packard had become a major player in the industry with its range of computers, from desktops to powerful microcomputers.
This decade marked HP's successful entry into the printer market, as it introduced inkjet and laser printers that could be connected to PCs.
1980-1989
In 1980, HP introduced its first PC product: the HP-85.
Net revenue: $3 billion, employees: 57,000.
In 1982, Hewlett-Packard in the UK developed the e-mail system, which has become the first commercial microcomputer-based wide area network.
Utilizing 32-bit "superchip" technology, the HP 9000 technical computer was introduced, which was the first "desktop mainframe" with the same performance as the massive mainframes of the 1960s.
In 1984, HP's technology was first used in the HP Thinkjet printer.
Today's inkjet printers continue to see technological breakthroughs, and their prices continue to come down.
Launch of the company's most successful single product: the HP LaserJet laser printer.
Today's laser printers are recognized by the industry as the world standard for laser printers.
In 1985, net revenue: $6.5 billion, employees: 85,000.
1986 Introduced a multi-family computer system based on the innovative RISC (Reduced Instruction Structure) architecture.
Development costs for this product amounted to $250 million and development lasted five years, making it HP's largest investment in research and development.
In 1987, Bill Hewlett retired and resigned as vice chairman.
Walter Hewlett (Bill's son) and David Woodley Packard (David's son) were elected as directors of the company.
In 1988, Hewlett-Packard jumped into the top 50 of Happiness Magazine's list of 500 companies, ranking 49th.
In 1989, HP celebrated its 50th anniversary.
HP's new Atomic Radiation Detector became the first analytical instrument to use gas chromatography to determine all elements except helium.
Acquisition of Apollo Computer Corporation (Chelmsford, Massachusetts), a manufacturer of workstations.
1990-1999
Although it is too early to summarize this decade, by this point HP had demonstrated its extraordinary success in the fields of measurement, computers, and communications.
HP's demonstrated ability to collect, analyze, store, and display information will surely further transform the information superhighway into a reality.
In 1990, the HP LaserJet III laser printer was introduced.
HP Labs opens a research facility in Tokyo.
Net revenue: $13.2 billion, employees: 91,500.
1991 HP 95LX Pocket PC (weighing approximately 11 angstroms) with Lotus 1-2-3 applications pre-installed, featuring advanced computing features and data communications.
The HP SONOS 1500 Cardiovascular Imager System allows physicians to perform non-contact quantitative analysis of heart disease using ultrasound processing.
The Prudent Color Scanner enables computer reading of photographs or other visual images.
In 1992, Lew Platt became president and CEO of HP.
Launched Corporate Business Systems, nine HP3000 and HP9000 computer systems with mainframe functionality at a 90 percent lower price.
In 1993, the 3-pound HP OmniBook 300 "ultra-portable" PC was introduced, with enough battery power to keep the computer running during a flight across the United States.
Delivered the 10 millionth HP LaserJet laser printer, HP has now sold 20 million printers.
David Packard leaves for retirement.
Lew Platt is elected chairman, president, and CEO.
1994 Net operating income reaches $25 billion.
HP produces the world's brightest LEDs.
It has replaced incandescent lamps in many new applications because of its simultaneous high brightness, high reliability, and low power consumption.
Introduced the HP Color LaserJet color laser printer.
Launched OfficeJet all-in-one printer/fax/copier.
Launch of the HP 200LX Pocket PC with built-in Pocket Quicken.
In 1995, net revenues reached $31.5 billion; number of employees: 105,200.
Acquires Convex Computer Corporation (Richardson, Texas), a provider of high-performance computing solutions.
Introduces the HP OmniGo 100 handheld computer.
Introduces the HP Pavilion PC to the home computer market.
On March 26, 1996, company founder David Packard passed away.
The first HP LaserJet 5SI "network printer" is introduced.
1997 Revenue: $42.9 billion, employees: 121,900.
HP's e-business capabilities are enhanced with the acquisition of VeriFone, an industry leader in electronic payment systems.
Launched a new multi-year consumer marketing program with the theme of "Expanding Possibilities".
The 21st Century
On September 4, 2001, HP acquired rival Compaq Computer Corporation for $25 billion in stock.
In May 2002, the merger of the two companies was finalized.
In 2003, the company's market capitalization reached $8.028 billion, resulting in a 6.2% share of the global infrastructure services market.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, it overtook Dell as the world's number one PC vendor.
In 2008, fiscal revenue surpassed $100 billion
As of early 2012, HP remained the world's number one PC vendor.
On February 10, 2011, HP's new product launch was held in San Francisco, USA.
At the event, themed "Think Beyond," HP officially announced a new version of webOS, the HP Veer, the HP Pre 3 smartphone, and the HP TouchPad tablet.
On October 30, 2013, Moonshot servers with Calexda ARM architecture chips were announced.
Overall printing equipment in the Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at an annualized rate of 2.5 percent from 2012 to 2017, with demand for digital printing equipment significantly higher than a year ago, achieving 9.4 percent annual growth, while traditional printing equipment is expected to stop growing.
HP is also feeling strong growth momentum in the Asia Pacific region, driven by strong demand from new and existing customers for HP's full portfolio of digital graphics printing products.
China, HP's second largest Indigo market globally, has also witnessed rapid growth in digital printing.
HP will continue to expand its digital portfolio to ensure that product reach and end-to-end services meet the needs of printing companies to help them succeed.
Particularly in the packaging space, HP has been committed to providing customers with products that help them win digital opportunities, and upcoming programs will also help printing companies discover new opportunities in flexible and folding packaging.
Print companies can also join HP's strong ecosystem of customers and partners.
This was best exemplified by the participation of more than 1,000 customers and partners at the Digital Solutions Collaborative Asia Pacific (Dscoop) conference, held May 12-13, 2013, in Beijing, China.
Accelerating Innovation to Improve Speed of Delivery and Capture New Opportunities
Many of the HP digital printing platforms introduced at drupa are now shipping in Asia Pacific, including the HP Indigo 10000, 7600 and 5600 digital presses, the HP T410, T360, and T230 Color Inkjet Web Presses, the HP S&D FB7600 industrial presses, and HP Designjet L28500 and L26500 Latex printers.
The HP Indigo10000 digital press will be on display at the Beijing International Printing Technology Exhibition from May 14-18, 2013, making its first public appearance in the Asia Pacific region.
Numerous early testers in the Asia Pacific region have already been introduced to the HP Indigo10000 press, including users in China and Taiwan, users in India, and users in Australia, among others.
September 12, 2014, Morning News - HP is about to acquire Eucalyptus Systems, a cloud computing software developer.
HP CEO Meg Whitman is trying to strengthen HP's business with new acquisitions.
On October 15, 2014, HP announced that it would resume its stock buyback program, and earlier the company had terminated merger talks with EMC, according to sources.
HP said it was resuming the stock buybacks because it no longer had the "material non *** information" that led it to suspend them in August.
The company has so far not acknowledged that it has been in M&A talks with ECS.
According to media reports, Hewlett-Packard will officially split into two on November 2: Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise focuses on developing cloud computing solutions, and HP Inc. focuses on producing printers and PC personal computers.