BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)

TECHNOLOGY

Should HP be in the PC business?

If Hewlett-Packard wants to clinch the $21 bil Compaq deal, analysts say it may have to ditch PCs. CEO Carly Fiorina says the deal is about servers and other high-end computers. But PCs would make up to a third of the roughly $90 bil in sales of the combined firm. Critics say the deal would dilute printers and not boost HP's power in high-end computers and services.

HP delayed a Dec. analyst meeting until early '02. It said the decision was made before Hewlett and Packard family members opposed the Compaq buy.

Walter Hewlett, son of HP co-founder Bill Hewlett, hired a consulting firm for a …