The manufacturer’s board of directors have unanimously appointed Enrique Lores, currently president of HP’s Imaging, Printing and Solutions business, to the role effective from 1 November.

Weisler joined the business in 2012 and has served as its president and CEO since 2015, when Hewlett-Packard was split into HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company.

He has decided to step down due to “a family health matter” and will be returning home to Australia.

He will work with Lores to ensure a seamless transition and will remain at the company until January 2020. Following this, he will continue to serve on HP’s board of directors until the next annual meeting of stockholders.

“Serving as CEO of HP is the highlight of my career, and I want to thank the entire HP team for the support they have shown me. I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved and equally confident in where we are heading as a company,” said Weisler.

“Enrique has been a tremendous partner whose leadership has been instrumental in setting this company up for success and delivering on our strategy. He is one of the smartest people I know, and I have great confidence in his ability to lead and inspire the next chapter of HP’s transformation and growth.”

Lores began his HP career 30 years ago as an engineering intern and has risen to increasingly prominent leadership positions across the company’s Print, Personal Systems and Services businesses.

During the manufacturer’s separation in 2015, he successfully led the Separation Management Office and was instrumental in transforming HP’s cost structure while simplifying the organisation and creating the capacity to invest in innovation to drive profitable top and bottom-line growth.

Over the past year, he has been working with the HP board on a comprehensive global review of the company’s strategy and business operations, with a focus on simplifying its operating model, evolving its business models and driving significant improvement in its cost structure while making the company more digitally enabled and customer-centric.

“The opportunities ahead are vast and the need for us to keep reinventing is more important than ever,” said Lores.

“I continue to be inspired by our customers, partners and employees, who are turning bold ideas into meaningful innovations. This is where we will set our sights for the future.”

The appointment news coincided with the release of HP Inc’s Q3 results yesterday (22 August), which saw its revenue increase by 0.1% year-on-year to $14.6bn (Q3 2018: $14.6bn).

Its Printing division, however, saw a revenue decline of 5.3%, from $5.19bn in Q3 2018 to $4.91bn.

Operating margins in the Printing segment, which comprises supplies, commercial hardware and consumer hardware, averaged 15.6% for the three-month period to 31 July 2019.

HP’s Personal Systems division, which comprises workstations, notebooks and desktops, saw net revenue climb by 3% year-on-year, from $9.4bn to $9.69bn.

The company’s net earnings climbed from $880m, or 55 cents per share, in Q3 2018, to $1.18bn, or 79 cents per share in Q3 2019.

Printing segment profits fell by 7.7% year-on-year, from $829m in Q3 2018 to $765m, while profits in Personal Systems increased by 51%, from $362m to $547m.

The largest amount of sales in the Printing division was contributed by Supplies, which saw year-on-year net revenue falling by 7% from $3.4bn to $3.16bn.

Commercial hardware sales were up by 2.7%, from $1.129bn to $1.16bn and consumer hardware dropped by 10% year-on-year, from $654m to $588m.