Hewlett-Packard Stepping Up As Rivals Dell, Compaq Slip.

Byline: Nick Turner, Investor's Daily

Webb McKinney Hewlett-Packard Co. General manager of personal computer unit 54 years old B.S. and M.S., electrical engineering, University of Southern California Investor's Business Daily Hewlett-Packard Co. is no longer content to be a second-string player in the personal computer game. As industry leadersDell Computer Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. stumble, HP says it's poised to make gains. Dell recently warned analysts that its fourth-quarter results wouldn't meet expectations. The company blamed shortages of chips and problems stemming from the Y2K bug. Compaq, meantime, while meeting expectations in its most recent quarter, still struggles to increase sales and earnings. Hewlett-Packard led in …