Hewlett Packard

Founded in 1939, HP has grown into one of the most comprehensive technology solutions providers in the world.  HP currently holds the number two market share position in the color printer market with 14% of the market share.  In fiscal 2010, HP generated $126 billion in total revenue, earning the company eleventh place on the Fortune 500 list.  HP has also been named number sixteen on BusinessWeek’s list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies and ranked number one in the United States and number ten in the world on The Economist’s ratings of Environmental and Social Impact.

HP’s mission is “to invent technologies and services that drive business value, create social benefit and improve the lives of customers-with a focus on affecting the greatest number of people possible.” HP currently employs approximately 172,000 people throughout the world who work to serve the technology needs of in excess of one billion people in 170 countries.

HP R&D Expenditures and Patents

Over the past ten years, HP has invested in excess of $25 billion toward research and development of new and better technologies.  Over the next five years, HP plans to devote nearly $20 billion to R&D to improve technology in three key areas, including transitioning to analog printing industry into a completely digital printing industry. 

HP was the first company to develop network printer management software, Energy-Star compliant printers, network scanners and 11x17 duplex printing.  These innovations, along with many others, have led to HP being one of the top patent-holding IT companies in the world with over 37,000 patents held from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.