HP revamps labs to raise productivity

Hewlett-Packard Co., the largest maker of personal computers and printers, is setting out to harvest more commercial products and services from the crop of ideas cultivated in its research laboratories.

As part of an overhaul announced Thursday, the Palo Alto company said it was reassigning its worldwide research team of about 600 employees to focus on 20 to 30 major projects, down from about 150 different ventures the labs typically have in the works.

“We are going to make fewer, bigger bets,” HP Chief Executive Mark Hurd said. “This is a big deal for us.”

The 23 HP labs in seven countries will work more closely with universities, venture capitalists, government agencies and customers to identify promising projects and figure out quicker ways to make money off their inventions.

Since HP hired him nearly three years ago, Hurd has been relentlessly cutting costs in an austerity drive that has helped boost the company’s profit and stock price.

The reorganization of HP’s 42-year-old laboratory division won’t reduce research and development funding, said Shane Robison, the company’s chief technology officer. HP has spent $3.6 billion on research and development in each of the last two years.