breaking / Big Tech

🚨 HP Just Hired a Former GSK Boss as CEO — With PC Shipments Down 16%

HP named ex-GSK chief Emma Walmsley as CEO from January 4, 2027, nine months after Enrique Lores left and with PC units down 16%.

By Tech Arcade··2 min read

HP Just Hired a Former GSK Boss as CEO — With PC Shipments Down 16% — Tech Arcade
Photo: Andrey Matveev / Unsplash

HP just named Emma Walmsley, the former chief executive of drugmaker GSK, as its next CEO, ending a nine-month stretch under an interim boss (HP).

The announcement landed at 07:00 ET today, and she starts on January 4, 2027.

If you were expecting a hardware lifer, so was everyone else. Reuters puts it flatly: she has no prior tech hardware experience (Reuters). She inherits a PC maker selling fewer machines at higher prices, in the middle of a memory-chip squeeze.

⚡ What Happened

  • The appointment: HP’s board voted unanimously for Walmsley, who replaces interim CEO Bruce Broussard (GlobeNewswire).
  • The board shuffle: Broussard becomes chair on the same day, taking over from Chip Bergh, who has held the role since 2017.
  • The CV: She ran GSK from April 2017 through December 2025, and spent 17 years at L’Oréal before joining GSK in 2010. Her closest tech link is seven years on Microsoft’s board.
  • The gap: Enrique Lores quit as HP’s CEO in February after almost six years to run PayPal, and Broussard stepped in immediately (The Register).

“Today’s appointment follows a comprehensive global search focused on what HP needs to win in its next chapter.” — Chip Bergh, HP chair

🧠 Why It Matters

Look at HP’s last quarter and you can see the job. In the three months to July 31, Personal Systems units fell 16% while that division’s revenue rose 18% to $11.8 billion (SEC filing). HP sold fewer PCs, and each one brought in more money.

That trick has a limit. AI data centres are soaking up memory-chip capacity, and HP, Dell, Apple and Lenovo are all competing for what’s left (Reuters). HP said in a September filing that it won’t give a fiscal 2027 outlook, and it assumes industry PC volumes will drop by mid-single digits next year.

So the board has picked someone with experience running a huge global business through change over someone who knows PC supply chains. You can read that as a fresh start or a big bet. It’s probably both.

🔜 What To Watch

  • November 24: HP reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, its last set before she arrives.
  • January 4: Her first day, and the point when questions about strategy start to land on her desk.
  • Microsoft: The release doesn’t say whether she keeps her board seat there.

Share-price reports are mixed this early, so we’ve left them out.

Sources

❓ Quick answers

Who is the new CEO of HP?

Emma Walmsley, the former GSK chief executive, becomes HP's CEO on January 4, 2027, HP announced on November 4, 2026.

Why did HP need a new CEO?

Enrique Lores left in February 2026 to run PayPal, and board member Bruce Broussard served as interim CEO while HP ran a global search, according to HP and The Register.

What challenges will Emma Walmsley face at HP?

A memory-chip squeeze and weaker PC volumes: HP's Personal Systems units fell 16% in the quarter to July 31, 2026, and it assumes industry PC units will drop by mid-single digits next year, per its filings and Reuters.