PALO ALTO, Calif., August 19, 1999 -- Hewlett-Packard Company today revealed the name of its new, diversified technology company -- Agilent Technologies -- at a historic brand-identity launch, attended by several hundred employees and broadcast to others throughout the world. Agilent, derived from the word "agile," which means nimble and well-coordinated, mentally quick and resourceful, reflects the company's focus on providing breakthrough products and services with agility, speed and commitment to its customers.
The naming process followed interviews and research conducted among the company's scientists, engineers and managers, as well as consultations with experts in Agilent's key businesses. Landor Associates of San Francisco was retained to help develop and design Agilent's corporate identity and logo.
"Because Agilent is emerging from one of the best-known companies and strongest brands in the technology industry, the new name has special significance," said Edward W. (Ned) Barnholt, Agilent's chief executive officer. "Today we celebrate our origins as we launch our unique and separate characteristics and values in the Agilent name."
The Agilent symbol -- a series of graduated circles that form an eight-point starburst -- represents a "spark of insight," Agilent's unique combination of breakthrough technology and customer insight, ignited to become reality. The company color is the blue HP used before it entered the computer and printing businesses. A heritage tag line, "Innovating the HP Way," links Agilent to its origins in HP, a company that has been an innovator in technology and business practices since its inception in 1939.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent, resulting from HP's plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies, consists of HP's former measurement and components businesses. Agilent is the world's leading provider of test and measurement solutions and communications components. The company's products and services serve markets that include communications, electronics, life sciences, healthcare and semiconductor products, and contributed nearly $8 billion in revenues to HP during the company's fiscal year 1998. The computer and imaging businesses will retain the Hewlett-Packard Company name.
Supported by Agilent Technologies Labs, formerly part of the world-renowned Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Agilent is being formed from the following HP business units:
Test and Measurement, which includes the following groups:
"Agilent has the unique ability to advance science and improve lives," said Barnholt. "We plan to retain the values that have made HP a success, including our innovation, integrity and teamwork, while increasing our speed and agility, focus and accountability. We are fortunate to be able to blend the stature and stability of an established company with the spirit and fresh vision of a new company."
Agilent, which will have its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., has 43,000 employees in more than 40 countries.
About HP
Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.
HP had computer-related revenue of $39.5 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. HP plans to launch a new company consisting of its industry-leading test-and-measurement, semiconductor products, chemical-analysis and medical businesses. These businesses represented $7.6 billion of HP's total revenue in fiscal 1998. With leading positions in multiple market segments, this technology-based company will focus on opportunities such as communications and life sciences.
HP has 123,000 employees worldwide and had total revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at .
AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES backgrounder
Agilent's roots are in the earliest days of Hewlett-Packard Company, which started as a test and measurement company in 1939 with the production of the company's first audio oscillator.
Agilent will have its headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., and will be housed (starting in the spring of 2000) in a new building at 395 Page Mill Road, the site of HP's first manufacturing building, constructed in 1943.
Agilent embodies HP's heritage of innovation and contribution, uncompromising integrity, teamwork, and trust and respect for the individual, while placing a renewed emphasis on customer focus, accountability and agility.
Agilent has approximately 43,000 employees in more than 40 countries.
Agilent will offer its products and services in more than 100 countries.
Agilent is the world's leading designer, developer, manufacturer and provider of communications components, as well as electronic and optical test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions.
The company's customers span key industries, including electronics, communications, semiconductors, healthcare and life sciences.
Agilent is not an actual word, but a "lightly coined" one. It is derived from the word "agile," which means nimble and well-coordinated, mentally quick and resourceful. Agilent's management, people, businesses and partners identify strongly with these meanings -- agility is a powerful attribute of the new company.
Agilent's symbol -- a series of graduated circles that form an eight-point starburst -- represents a "spark of insight." The symbol represents many things. Some see it as a rising star or a starburst. Others see it as a pebble cast into a still pool, or as an idea that starts out small, but ripples out to touch and affect a broader audience. It signifies the unique combination of breakthrough technologies and customer insight that sparks a new idea and brings it to reality. The company color is the blue HP used before it entered the computer and printing businesses.
The heritage tag line, "Innovating the HP Way," expresses several ideas. It means that Agilent will continue to innovate, as HP always has, to produce quality products and services that make a clear contribution. It also means that Agilent will work with partners, customers and employees in innovative ways, using a set of business practices known as the HP Way. These practices embody the values -- innovation and contribution, uncompromising integrity, teamwork, and trust and respect for the individual -- that have built HP into the successful company that it is today.