"It may be the lowest-margin business in HP but it's still profitable," he added. "Letting it percolate in the background may be the smarter move."

Moreover, getting rid of its PC division could hurt HP's server business because the company depends on high-volume supply relationships with component makers, IDC's Del Prete said. It's likely to hurt the company's printer business because PCs help to cement good deals with retailers such as Best Buy that also sell HP printers.

Overall, it's still likely that Whitman will continue pushing HP to become more of an enterprise company, King said. "That's clearly where the profits are."

The choice of Whitman as CEO is a bit of a mixed bag, according to King.

"One one side, she's a known entity and she's obviously got significant experience in running a multi-billion dollar run rate company at eBay," he said.