HP's new chief executive Mark Hurd has asked for time to learn and understand the company, but has not ruled out spinning off any divisions.

In his first meeting with financial analysts and the media Hurd maintained that it is too early to talk about any changes in strategy, such as spinning off the printing or computer divisions, and that HP needs to focus on operations and cost cutting.

"I am not here today to pass judgement about the past," Hurd said in a reference to his predecessor at his inaugural press conference. "I am not concerned about the past, I'm only concerned about the future."

He went on to claim that HP is fortunate to be suffering mostly from internal problems. "The great thing about internal problems is that they are typically very easy to deal with, provided the leadership does its job," he said.

Hurd's appointment as chief executive was revealed on 29 March. The former NCR chief will officially assume his new role on 1 April.

He replaces Carly Fiorina, who was ousted almost two months ago.

Sam Bhavnani, senior analyst with Current Analysis, suggested to vnunet.com that Fiorina is being held responsible for bringing HP to "the lowest point in its history".

Although Hurd sees cutting costs as his foremost task, he declined to confirm that this would lead to mass layoffs or the spinning off of divisions, such as the PC unit or the printing and imaging business.

Such spin-offs have often been suggested by analysts, who expect that these units would perform better outside HP.

Hurd pointed out that the question of spinning off parts of the business revolves around improving the profitability of the company, at which point cutting off pieces of HP might not be the best solution.

However, Bhavnani pointed out that by putting the option of spinning off parts of the company on the table, Hurd has broken with past statements by HP's board.

"When the board fired Fiorina, they said that whoever they brought in was going to execute on her vision. There is not as much confidence that the strategy they have in place today is the right strategy," he said.

Hurd indicated that he will base his decision on the future of the company on metrics and performance. He described his management style as creating a performance oriented culture to pursue common goals shared throughout the organisation.

"I like to have a team environment where I can go any place in the organisation and not threaten management," he said.

Hurd has a reputation as a cost cutter, but lacks a track record as a visionary in the high tech business. As long as he succeeds in getting HP back on track, that might not be a big issue, according to Philip Fersht, a vice president at analyst firm the Yankee Group.

"You are not going to get a cost cutter and a visionary in one. But you can get somebody who is a strong leader," he said. "The last thing HP wants is a great visionary; it needs discipline to articulate how to take on the competition."

The analyst suggested that Hurd's first task should be to clean up the legacy from the Compaq acquisition. "HP ended up taking on Dell, which was a big mistake," he warned.

Fersht added that HP should follow the leads of IBM and Accenture in focusing on business process outsourcing and building a services organisation.