HP Inc. is the Fortune 500 company descended from the original Hewlett-Packard company founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard.
Hewlett and Packard established Hewlett-Packard in 1939 in a Palo Alto garage. Their first product was an audio oscillator, and one of the earliest customers was Walt Disney Studios, which bought oscillators for work on the film Fantasia. The company later became a major producer of scientific instruments, computers, printers, and related technology.
In 2015, Hewlett-Packard split into two publicly traded companies. HP Inc. took the personal-computer and printer businesses, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise took enterprise hardware, software, and services. HP Inc. retained the HP name and the company’s historical connection to the founders.
The famous garage is associated with the origins of Silicon Valley, but it was not legally owned by HP; it was rented by the founders. The company’s name order was reportedly determined by a coin toss between Hewlett and Packard.