The Dell company is the largest worldwide seller of personal computers. They outsell even Dell computers. This reason may be due to the fact that they were once a little cheaper than the Dell computers but today, Dell is giving them a run for their money. Many people believe the Dell computer is a better computer as far as quality and service but they were not within reach for some budgets for years. Gateway is another brand of computer which has been very popular but they did not have the exposure that HP did. It is the opinion of some that the HP computer got most of their exposure through the Wal-Mart stores and since this is where so many people do most of their shopping, this was the likely place they would buy their computer.
Hewlett Packard was originated in a garage by William (Bill) Hewlett and David (Dave) Packard who both graduated from Standard University in 1934. On January 1, 1939 the partnership began with an investment of $538. A coin was tossed to determine if the company would be called Hewlett Packard or Packard Hewlett. It appeared that Dave Hewlett won the coin toss but he didn’t. It is reported that Packard actually won the coin toss but they named the company, Hewlett Packard.
The company was incorporated in 1947 and they went public in 1957. Their first successful product was a precision audio oscillator, which was the Model HP200A. They used a small light bulb as a temperature resistor in their circuit. They sold the Model 200A for $54.40. Their competitors were selling less stable oscillators for $200 during the same time period. They continued to improve throughout the years and sold the same model until around 1972. The Walt Disney Company was one of HP’s first customers and they bought the Model 200B, which sold for $71.50 each. They wanted to certify the Fantasound surround sound systems which were installed in theaters for the movie Fantasia.
Hewlett Packard is known as the founders of Silcon Valley. HP joined in a partnership with Sony and the Yokogawa Electric Companies in Japan and in 1963, the HP products were sold in Japan. HP bought YokoElectric’s shares in the company in 1999. Today HP has products such as computers, scanners, printers, digital cameras, calculators, PDAs, servers, workstations, small business computers for those working out of their homes, and more. In 2002 the company merged with Compaq.