Hewlett-Packard Officially Splits Into 2 Companies

PALO ALTO (KCBS) -- Hewlett-Packard officially split into two companies Monday - HP Inc. (HPQ) which will sell personal computers and printers, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) which will focus on business computer systems and services.

Both began trading separately on the New York Stock Exchange Monday, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman ringing the opening bell Monday. HP Inc. will be led by CEO Dion Weisler.

Whitman told an investor conference last month each independant company would have "flexibility to respond to a constantly evolving market ... with less to focus on, each company will do core things better."

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is seen as having the better growth prospects given the slowdown in PC sales.

One of the original giants of Silicon Valley, HP failed to keep pace with trends such as the evolvement of smartphones and rise of cloud computing. It was also negatively affected by questionable acquisitions and controversies involving its CEOs and other executives.