In 1938, two Stanford graduates in electrical engineering, William Hewlett and David Packard, started their own business in a garage behind Packard’s Palo Alto home. One year later, Hewlett and Packard formalized their business into a partnership called Hewlett-Packard. HP was incorporated in 1947 and began offering stock for public trading 10 years later. Annual net revenue for the company grew from $5.5 million in 1951 to $3 billion in 1980. By 1997, annual net revenue exceeded $42 billion and HP had become the world’s second largest computer supplier. 2
The company, which originally produced audio oscillators, introduced its first computer in 1966. In 1972, the company pioneered the era of personal computing by introducing the first scientific, hand-held calculator. Hewlett-Packard introduced its first personal computer in 1980. Five years later, HP introduced the LaserJet printer, which would become the company’s most successful product ever. 3 (See Exhibit A-1 for a more complete timeline of HP’s history).