Since September of last year, the H...

Since September of last year, the Hewlett-Packard (H-P) family, with the actual public Hewlett-Packard company, has been bickering athwart a U.S. $25 billion propos merger between it and Compaq.

There's a allotment at stake and the merger could have serious effects either positive or negative, for H-P which had profits of $16 billion in fiscal 2001 and has a leading position in the imaging and printing market, a hardy consumer brand, an equally able-bodied reputation, and a large investment in innovation.

The European Commission gave formal clearance to the propos merger in late