The company plans to hire a new executive to manage its enterprise-services unit, reporting to the CEO, and Apotheker said H-P also is speeding efforts to offer customers more profitable technology services. The company is signing IT outsourcing deals that are hurting margins because of their labor-intensity. Increasing H-P services that help customers create software applications or outsource customer service, the CEO said. "We have overinvested operationally and underinvested strategically. It is my top focus going forward."The disappointing new forecast in the memo, along with the earnings report, according to Bloomberg, dampened reviews of Apotheker's first quarter as CEO. The challenges he faces include a reliance on home-computer sales, which leaves the company vulnerable to consumer slumps. Also, it needs acquisitions in services to reflect the benefits of cloud computing.

H-P still is dealing with headcount that surged in late 2008 when it paid $13.9 billion to acquire Electronic Data Systems. The 87% rise in Its employment ranks, according to Bloomberg, swelled the company to 321,000 that October 2008, from 172,000 the previous year.

There have been several post-Apotheker changes among H-P's top executives. A Bloomberg tally noted that it had hired Martin Homlish -- a former Apotheker colleague at SAP AG -- as chief marketing officer April 19. H-P also named Jan Zadak to head its business computing sales, replacing Tom Hogan, who is leaving the company.

Apotheker is stepping up the company's emphasis on higher- margin businesses, including servers, storage computers and software, and lessening its dependence on PCs, said Marshall, who has a "buy" recommendation on Hewlett-Packard.

The H-P e-mail cited how CFO Lesjak and human-resources vice president Tracy Keogh are "driving a full headcount re-planning process" that is designed to show "the new realities of the market and our position." Bloomberg cited a company filing showing that H-P had 324,600 employees as of Oct. 31.