Crawford Del Prete, an analyst at IDC, said HP "is going through an incredibly difficult transition," which "causes a tremendous amount of stress in the organization."

The recent changes, combined with the investor sentiment, may be what's prompting the board to take a step back, said Del Prete. "The shareholders have been very, very frustrated," he said.

Losing Apotheker would "introduce more chaos" at the company, said Del Prete, and the board would have to move swiftly to name an interim CEO to mitigate it.

Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group, said the biggest case for change is that much of the board has been changed since Apotheker was hired.

"When you change a board you'll likely change what it thinks the company should have in a CEO," said Enderle.