HP 2010 Annual Report Download - page 156

HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)
Note 18: Litigation and Contingencies (Continued)
Environmental
HP is subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning
environmental protection, including laws addressing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the
management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, the cleanup of contaminated sites, the
materials used in its products, and the recycling, treatment and disposal of its products including
batteries. In particular, HP faces increasing complexity in its product design and procurement operations
as it adjusts to new and future requirements relating to the chemical and materials composition of its
products, their safe use, and the energy consumption associated with those products, including
requirements relating to climate change. HP products are also subject to product take-back legislation in
an increasing number of jurisdictions. HP could incur substantial costs, its products could be restricted
from entering certain jurisdictions, and it could face other sanctions, if it were to violate or become liable
under environmental laws or if its products become non-compliant with environmental laws. HP’s
potential exposure includes fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third-party property damage or personal
injury claims and clean up costs. The amount and timing of costs under environmental laws are difficult
to predict.
HP is party to, or otherwise involved in, proceedings brought by U.S. or state environmental
agencies under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(‘‘CERCLA’’), known as ‘‘Superfund,’’ or state laws similar to CERCLA. HP is also conducting
environmental investigations or remediations at several current or former operating sites pursuant to
administrative orders or consent agreements with state environmental agencies.
Note 19: Segment Information
Description of Segments
HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, software, solutions and services to
individual consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises, including customers in
the government, health and education sectors. HP’s offerings span multi-vendor customer services,
including infrastructure technology and business process outsourcing, technology support and
maintenance, application development and support services, and consulting and integration services;
enterprise information technology infrastructure, including enterprise storage and server technology,
networking products and solutions, information management software and software that optimizes
business technology investments; personal computing and other access devices; and imaging and
printing-related products and services.
HP and its operations are organized into seven business segments for financial reporting purposes:
Services, Enterprise Storage and Servers (‘‘ESS’’), HP Software, the Personal Systems Group (‘‘PSG’’),
the Imaging and Printing Group (‘‘IPG’’), HP Financial Services (‘‘HPFS’’), and Corporate Investments.
HP’s organizational structure is based on a number of factors that management uses to evaluate, view
and run its business operations, which include, but are not limited to, customer base, homogeneity of
products and technology. The business segments are based on this organizational structure and
information reviewed by HP’s management to evaluate the business segment results. Services, ESS and
HP Software are reported collectively as a broader HP Enterprise Business. In order to provide a
supplementary view of HP’s business, aggregated financial data for the HP Enterprise Business is
presented herein.
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