Hewlett-Packard Under Assault

It seems that Hewlett-Packard is coming under attack with rivals launching an all out blitz to steal market share. What’s next for this stock?

First they’ve been flanked by Cisco, who clearly wants a bigger chunk of the corporate computing market and said Monday that they plan to start selling servers.

As you may know, Cisco is the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, but Monday's announcement greatly expands its ambitions in the corporate "data center" market.

In other words Cisco will move from just selling the switches that allow the computers to talk to each other to selling virtually entire data centers.

And now there's word that Apple could be launching its own assault. Tech watchers including the popular Computerword blog, says Apple could soon unveil a new tablet device. Though it’s not believed to be a netbook or small laptop, it could well become a thorn in H-P's side.

So what’s the trade?

It seems that Hewlett-Packard may be heading into rough waters. Caris & Co computer analyst Robert Cihra tells Fast Money he rates HPQ as ‘Average’ and during his interview on the live show he was less than enthused about the company.

In fact Cihra seems much more excited by other tech firms, especially Apple. It probably comes as little suprise then, if you’re looking for a tech trade Cihra suggests long Apple.

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Trader disclosure: On Mar. 17th, 2009, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Macke Owns (GE), (GS), (MS), (MOS), (AAPL); Macke Is Short (BRK.b); Adami Owns (AGU), (C), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE), (BTU) ; Terranova Owns (MA), (AAPL), (RIG), (CVX), (GS), (AMZN), (BP), (KCE), (JPM), (X), (POT), (WYNN), (XBI), (HESS), (INTC), (BRCM), (DELL), (JOYG), (FXC), (MS), (XOM); Terranova Owns (AMGN) & (AMGN) Puts; Terranova Owns (IBM) Spread; Terranova Owns (DIS) & (DIS) Calls; Terranova Owns (COP) Calls; Terranova Owns MACI Oil Futures; Najarian Owns (GDX); Najarian Owns (C) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (FCX) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GD) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (X) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GLD) Put Spread; Najarian Owns (JPM) & (JPM) Calls; Najarian Owns (MS) & (MS) Calls; Najarian Owns (MSFT) &  (MSFT) Calls; Najarian Owns (WFC) & (WFC) Puts; Najarian Owns (XHB) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (XLI) Calls