Blades and notebooks continue to drive HP

The company posted US$28.3 billion in revenue, up 15 percent on the same quarter a year ago.

HP posted strong gains in its blade server unit. Revenues from x86 blades were up 78 percent year over year.

Sales of notebook computers continued to grow, and the company reported a 49 percent growth in revenue from last year.

This is the second consecutive quarter in which notebook sales have boosted HP's numbers, having reported 54 percent growth in August.

However, while hardware sales were strong, chief executive Mark Hurd claimed that HP's software business was the real star of the report. Profits rocketed from US$60m last year to US$177m this quarter.

"2007 marked an important year for HP Software," Hurd said in a conference call with reporters and analysts.

"I am particularly pleased with the success of Mercury, and the integration has gone well."

HP officially acquired Mercury Interactive last November for US$4.5bn during a difficult time for both companies. Mercury was looking to recover from a stock options debacle, while HP was in the middle of its infamous spying scandal.

Since then, HP has posted its best fiscal year ever, drawing in more than US$104bn in revenues and surpassing Dell for the lead in total PC sales.

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