HP abandons the Apple iPod

Hewlett Packard has
decided to ditch reselling the Apple iPod players under it's own name due to
directional changes in the company. All sales of HP's re-branded iPods will
cease by the end of September 2005. The end of HP's own iPod devices ends a
relationship with Apple that started in 2004.

The original deal to sell
re-branded Apple iPods under HP's name was initiated by former chief executive
Carly Fiorina but she has since stepped down. The decision to dump the iPods
lays in the hands of its new chief executive Mark hurd who has made some
sweeping changes at HP. The new chief has already set out to cut 14,500 jobs
which equals about 1 in 10 of HP's global workforce.

Apple released a statement saying that HP had
stopped reselling Apple iPods as it did not fit with the company's digital
strategy. Even with this announcement HP will still install Apple iTunes on its
PC's.

The original deal with Apple allowed HP to add its
logo along with Apples usual logo to the iPods it sold. This deal only accounted
for 5% of all Apple iPods sold

US computer firm Hewlett-Packard has decided to stop reselling Apple's iconic iPod music player. HP said its sales of iPods would stop by the end of September, ending a relationship which began in early 2004. The deal to sell the devices had been secured by the former HP chief executive, Carly Fiorina, but she resigned earlier this year. Under new chief Mark Hurd, the firm is now reshaping its plans across the board. Details already released of the rethink include 14,500 job cuts - about one in 10 of the firm's worldwide staff. "HP has decided that reselling iPods does not fit within the company's current digital entertainment strategy," said an Apple spokeswoman. HP will still install Apple's iTunes music software on its PCs.

I guess the deal wasnt as sweet as first anticipiated?

Source: BBC news