>HP tried selling PCs a few years ago and couldn't make a go of it. Compaq is loosing market share to Dell, Walmart and others and before 9-11 was being tossed around by speculators.

Walmart has no marketshare or influence in the tech sector at all.

I think that HP and Compaq have a plan that will work, I see them going head to head with IBM on the big boy stuff as a whole, and I see them with staying power seperately in the personal computing area. I don't think that PC's are the focal point of what they have in mind however. There will most likely be a strategic push towards more powerful PDA's and Tablet PCs. At the same time, I bet the Compaq division's will be focusing more on the Freestyle/Mira type projects while HP will be doing more with the imaging and printing.

Even if thats not how it plays out (the above is just my broad generalizations of their strategy) it will still put the company in a better position for the future than the Hewlett and Packard families' selfish dimwitted "plans" that were together at the last minute once they realized how transparent they are.