After a relationship between Steve Jobs and former HP-CEO Carly Fiorina that lasted just a little over a year and a half, HP has decided to stop reselling Apple branded iPods. According to an Apple spokeswoman, it "doesn't fit with their [HP] company's current digital media strategy. HP declined to say what their strategy is, but confirmed that the company will remain comitted to digital entertainment, which includes selling televisions and multimedia digital entertainment centers. According to HP's original agreement with Apple, it cannot sell another player that competes with the iPod until August 2006.
HP on average accounted for about 5% of iPod sales, which totaled about 6.2 million of the devices, worth more than $1.1 billion in revenue, for Apple last quarter. Consequently, shares of Apple fell $1.15, or 2.6 percent, to close at $42.65 in Friday trading. HP shares gained 13 cents, $24.62.
[via
WSJ]