HP Inc has hired former GSK boss Emma Walmsley to plot its course through choppy PC and print waters.
Walmsley spent eight years as the boss at pharma biz GSK and further back in time held various marketing and general management positions at L'Oreal. She has no track record running a tech company, though she was on Microsoft’s board.
“Throughout the process, Emma stood out for the strength of her leadership experience across multiple industries, the clarity of her strategic thinking and her ability to translate customer insights into new growth,” said Chip Bergh, chair of HP's board.
In the first nine months of HP's fiscal 2026, revenue had jumped 10 percent year-on-year to $44.5 billion. The print business shrank in that time and PCs generated the growth. However, amid a memory crunch with supplies dwindling, analysts are forecasting PC market contraction in terms of unit sales.
Global PC shipments slumped 20 percent in Q3 as DRAM shortages forced up prices and customers opted instead to sweat their assets rather than replace their fleet of computers. Things aren't expected to improve in the final three months of 2026.
One beacon of hope for all PC makers was AI, yet many customers aren't buying into the story for various reasons.
Walmsley previously said that during her time at the top of GSK she created a "totally different company, in platform, in momentum, in talent, in culture," she told the FT. "I think in time… it will be recognized." She also dealt with activist investor Elliot Management, which operates in the tech industry and called for her to reapply for the CEO role at GSK, claiming her lack of science background was an issue.
Walmsley said: "HP is an iconic company with a defining role in shaping the future of work on a global scale. I’m excited to join the team and, together, move forward with clarity and conviction. We will focus on harnessing the power of the AI era and putting HP’s creativity and innovation to work to unlock new sources of growth and deliver lasting value for our customers, shareholders, partners and people."
Employees will be crossing their fingers that their new boss doesn’t borrow from the playbook of her predecessor - who hotfooted it to PayPal in February - by running multiple redundancy rounds, and shareholders will hope their stock price show sustainable improvement. If not, Walmsley may have to manage more interest from activist investors at the latest corporation she is running. ®