Investors could use a calm weekend after the stressful week they just endured. This week marked the worst weekly performance for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
The week's best
I don't often throw around positive superlatives regarding PC stalwart Hewlett-Packard
A surprisingly robust report of first-quarter PC growth by research firm Gartner largely drove HP's pop this week. For the quarter, personal computer shipments totaled 89 million units, which equates to a solid 1.9% growth over the first quarter of 2011. And perhaps more encouragingly, HP also expanded its market share in this mature industry, growing its market share by 30 basis points to 17.2%. And while this certainly does seem encouraging for the iconic tech company, I don't think it changes HP's less-than-rosy prospects for the future.
A better way forward
In technology, we think about trends a lot, and unfortunately, HP's bread-and-butter businesses remain largely centered on printers and PCs, two markets that should grow increasingly obsolete with the rise of smartphones and tablets. Contrast the growth figures that caused HP's jump, a pretty paltry 1.9% increase, versus the robust growth we see in the tablet market. For the year, global tablet shipments are expected to grow at more than a 60% clip. This is where we see companies such as Apple
Worse yet, HP largely missed the boat in smartphones as well. Two years ago it spent $1.2 billion to acquire handset maker Palm and its WebOS operating system. However, two years later, HP has nothing to show for it. It made its WebOS an open-source operating system to try to encourage developer interest, but it's still a non-factor. To me, the company in many ways mirrors Research In Motion
So while HP's one-week gain does look great on its surface, I'm still a long-term skeptic. Companies that have their products positioned well to compete in our mobile future are the ones tech investors should focus their research efforts. Fortunately, the Fool has identified one compelling component play it thinks has room to run. We detail one great way to play the smartphone revolution in a free research report for our readers, so access your free copy today.