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However, HP apparently still believes there could be opportunities for it to license WebOS to third parties.
"WebOS has been received very well -- developers like it and users like it," Apotheker said. "We are looking at all our strategic options regarding the software."
HP's Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) business, which has boomed in the past few quarters, saw revenue grow 7 percent year-over year but drop nearly 3 percent from last quarter. ESSN's profit dropped one percent year-over-year and 8.75 percent from last quarter.
Within ESSN, Business Critical Systems sales grew 9 percent year-over-year and 16 percent sequentially, while switching and routing product sales jumped 18 percent. However, Apotheker said HP is still dealing with fallout from Oracle's decision in March to drop Itanium development.
"Our ability to close deals is being impacted by Oracle's decision, and orders are being canceled," Apotheker said in the call.
In the third quarter, HP's Services business revenue grew 3.6 percent, but profit dropped 11 percent. HP is in the process of transforming its services business with a view toward higher-margin deals, and Apotheker described this as "a four- to six-quarter journey".
HP's application services business revenue grew 2 percent year-over-year and Apotheker pointed to application modernization, security and private cloud services are specific areas of strength. "We continue to gain strong traction with our Cloud [Discovery] Workshops," he said.
HP's Imaging and Printing Group faces revenue and margin challenges as a result of the March earthquake in Japan, which is still contributing to laser toner shortages in HP's supply chain. IPG's third-quarter revenue was $6.1 billion, down one percent year-over-year, and operating margin was 14.7 percent.
HP lowered its guidance for the third straight quarter, a move Apotheker said was calculated to reflect the challenges HP is facing. "We don't take this action lightly, and we know investors don't like being put in this position," Apotheker said.
For HP's fourth quarter, the company is forecasting revenue of $32.1 billion to $32.5 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $1.12 to $1.16. For its 2011 fiscal year, HP expects revenue of $127.2 billion to $127.6 billion and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $4.82 to $4.86
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