HP may hive off PC unit, to buy Autonomy for $11.7 billion

Hewlett-Packard is considering a dramatic turn away from the struggling PC business by spinning it off into a separate company and is buying British software maker Autonomy Corp for $11.7 billion, focusing on faster-growing technology sectors.

Hewlett-Packard is considering a dramatic turn away from the struggling PC business by spinning it off into a separate company and is buying British software maker Autonomy Corp for $11.7 billion, focusing on faster-growing technology sectors.

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Underscoring the problems plaguing what was once its core business, the iconic Silicon Valley company also plans to kill WebOS-based phones and the TouchPad tablet, which was launched in June but has failed to excite consumers.

The barrage of news, which forced HP to announce third-quarter earnings an hour early, masked a sharp reduction in HP's estimates for full-year revenue and earnings that sent its shares 6% down to a 52-week low.