HP's next chief executive will face some tough strategic choices. The group built by Carly Fiorina sells everything from digital cameras to supercomputers, but lacks scale in important sectors.
HP is alone among big computer systems vendors in lacking real strength in software. Its services arm remains small compared with market leader IBM.
With a market value of $66bn up $5bn following Ms Fiorina's departure HP is an unlikely takeover target. But whoever the board selects to take her seat must decide whether the Silicon Valley institution has a viable strategy.
The first question is whether HP should remain a supplier of technology to both corporations and consumers. Some Wall Street analysts, led by Steve Milunovich of Merrill Lynch, have argued that the two sides of the business would be worth more and would be easier to manage as separate entities.
On Wednesday Mr Milunovich said a break-up was unlikely in the next 18 months while HP brought in a new CEO, but it was more likely in the long term.
On this view, HP's personal computer and printer divisions should be split from the rest of the group. The enterprise side would then be able to concentrate on meeting the needs of corporate customers freed from the distractions of consumer markets. The shortcomings of the enterprise side would also be exposed to the full discipline of financial markets.
Ms Fiorina's response was that HP's enterprise customers valued its experience with consumers. She also argued that HP's scale also gave it a competitive advantage by, for example, enabling it to negotiate lower component prices.
Any such split would also mean untangling supply chains, computer systems and more. After six years of continuous reorganisation under Ms Fiorina, it could be argued that the best thing now for HP would be a period of relative stability.
Yet HP can hardly afford to stand still. The acquisition of Compaq gave its PC business the scale to compete with market leader Dell, yet it is still struggling to maintain profit margins. On the enterprise side, it is far from clear that HP has either the products or management to compete with IBM.
The board will be looking for a strategic thinker as well as a manger with proven operational experience.
Bob Wayman, veteran chief financial officer and now interim CEO, is an unlikely choice, lacking both an operational track record and obvious charisma. The leading internal candidates are probably Vyomesh Joshi, head of HP's printer and PC businesses, and Ann Livermore, who runs the enterprise side.
The quiet, serious Ms Livermore could be seen as an antidote to Ms Fiorina's relentless salesmanship. Mr Joshi's impressive record as head of the printer business, which brings in the majority of HP's profits, gives him a strong claim. The board will be reluctant to lose him at such a pivotal moment. Among outsiders, Mike Zafirovski resigned last month as number two at Motorola, expressing a desire to run his own show. Whatever the outcome, Ms Fiorina's departure underlines that more of the same is not an option for the company once known as ?the grey lady of Silicon Valley?. Following six years of tumultuous change, the lady now needs to get into the black.
