HP CEO Leo Apotheker has made it quite clear that he plans to get out of the PC business. How it plans to do that is a different matter altogether.

On Tuesday, HP announced that it is restarting production on its TouchPad tablet, originally intended to compete with the iPad. Less than two weeks earlier, on August 18, it announced that it was discontinuing the line and slashed prices to get rid of its existing stock. Then, a few days later, it announced the release of the new HP Compaq 8200 Elite All-in-One Business Desktop. With new desktops and new touch pads, HP seems more like it is trying to bolster the unit, not get rid of it.

Now, the Head of HP’s personal computer division, Todd Bradley, said that the company is considering spinning off the division as a separate company, rather than trying to sell it off. “The working hypothesis is that a spin-off will be in the best interests of HP’s shareholders, customers and employees,” he explained.

Analysts speculate that HP would not get the price it wants for the PC unit. A successful line of new products could help to increase the unit’s market value, if HP does decide to sell it. Alternately, it could be a response to rumors that Oracle, HP’s rival, is eying HP for a hostile takeover.

Bradley says that the company will take about eight to twelve weeks to decide what it wants to do with his unit. That’s just enough time to see how well its latest products are selling.

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