The third problem was communications. Board members were "embarrassed" by the way Apotheker's team handled the announcements in August of the PC spinoff, a US$10.3 billion deal to buy infrastructure vendor Autonomy, and the decision to stop making WebOS devices, Lane said.

Whitman has the skills in all three areas to right HP's ship, according to Lane.

"I know that HP has disappointed investors in recent quarters and we're not happy about it," Whitman said during the conference call.

The company will take the necessary actions to get its financial performance back on track, she said. "That isn't something that can happen overnight ... but I know we have the tools and people to achieve our goals."

Apotheker's "sudden removal," however, could lead to further fallout for HP's board, which has faced withering criticism from some circles during the past year, Bernstein Research Analyst Toni Sacconaghi, Jr., wrote in an analyst note released before HP announced Apotheker's firing.