Hewlett Packard (HP) has been in a slump for a good few years now, with the consumer PC business slowly dying out, its printer business suffering from low-sales and not having a foot in the mobile and tablet market.

One thing that brings a spark for HP and other older PC companies like Microsoft, Dell and IBM is the enterprise side, which continues to grow. HP is looking to create two new companies, one focused on the consumer side, called HP Inc, and the other focused on enterprise, called Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.

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Meg Whitman, the current CEO of HP, will become the leader of the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise company, but will maintain hold of HP Inc with a board seat. Dion Weiser, previously the Executive Vice President of HP Printers and Personal Systems, will be promoted to CEO of HP Inc.

HP believes the split will be complete by 2015 and shareholders will receive stocks in both companies. Stock prices closed earlier this morning at $35.20. It is expected to fall tomorrow, following the announcement.

Meg Whitman says, "By transitioning now from one HP to two new companies, created out of our successful turnaround efforts, we will be in an even better position to compete in the market, support our customers and partners, and deliver maximum value to our shareholders."

There have been a few cases of splits in companies in the past few years, the most notable example being eBay and PayPal. HP is a huge company, with $112 billion in revenue per year, but this has been stagnating ever since 2008.

Mistakes with Palm OS cost HP the chance to be a player in the mobile market, along with its lacklustre performance in the PC market leading to Lenovo's takeover. Enterprise definitely looks more desirable to any investors in HP, who see the split as one failing company and one successful branch.

TagsHP, Hewlett Packard, HP Inc, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Meg Whitman, PC, enterprise