Actually, they shouldn't go down to the level of Blackberry, bc they are actually changing with the times and offering tablets and smartphones.  I think that their phone marketshare may get to around 15% ultimately, perhaps 20% if god smiles down on MSFT.  That is enough to live off of, but not enough to thrive on. 

HP began becoming less of a partner and a competitor when they purchased their own OS.  Granted, that move ended in failure, but it was pretty clear at that time that HP was moving away from its partnership with Microsoft.

HP hasn't been a top contender in PC/laptops for years.  Their business has been primarily centered around their server line.  A product line that Microsoft has yet to enter.  In fact, HP hasn't been a serious contender in the personal computing device market since it purchased Compaq and began diluting both brands with bad quality products.

But for HP, most likely the bigger issue for them was when Microsoft helped Dell.

Bottom line is that the PC market is changing and HP is choosing to blame its problems on Microsoft when the reality is they've been a wreck ever since they purchased Compaq.   There was a short golden period where HP couldn't seem to do any wrong, but that didn't last very long.

I would feel comfortable filling a data center with HP servers, but I wouldn't dare provide HP laptops to a workforce.  There are better products.

  You do realize that this is a big deal, bc HP makes a ton of MSFT products, and that this is an indication that it will make fewer of them in the future, right?

HP is a steerless ship.. They buy shit up just too fall at them hard.. Bought Palm, then the leading smartphone manufactor.. Then released the touchpad and then announced they are dropping out of smartphones and tablets..

Bought Autonomy corporation to become a more software company gets burned 5 billion dollar.. And a 1 billion dollar lawsuit.. They are lucky to have their printing and business pc division cause it one the company as a whole i a trainwreck.. They tried to compete with others (like MS) but are failing at such degree that they are not actually competituion or adversaries in those fields..

HP just introduced a $279 Chromebook, which moves them one step away from MSFT.

Acer is launching a $249 Chromebook, which also moves them one step away from MSFT....
"Thinner, longer lasting, and Haswell
A big leap in battery life could drive sales of the lilliputian Chromebooks."
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/acers-c720-chromebook-launched-thinner-longer-lasting-and-haswell/

You do know that with every chrome device.. There are royalties payed to MS because of patents? Like with Android?

HP actually this month introduced two Chromebooks. Chromebook 11 and 14. The 11 is pretty neat, they even added a decent IPS panel. 

Acer's C720 finally looks like something worth buying. The C710 was IMO too bulky. 

It's nice to see Chromebooks, but I would rather see similarly priced Ubuntu machines. 

You do know that royalties for Windows would be much worse to pay than a few patents, right?  You do know that by bypassing Windows, that the majority of users doing so will avoid MSFT's ecosystem, right?  
You're focused entirely too much on patent royalties, and losing sight of the picture.

HP does not make any Microsoft products.  They do make a lot of products that use Microsoft software, and they will likely continue to do so.  It is ludicrious to suggest that HP, the most significant Windows server manufacturer is going to stop featuring Windows in its servers.  Especially when you consider that a significant majority of corporations use Windows for their internal intranet systems.  Just as ludicrious that they would stop featuring Windows in their workstation line intended for corporations. 

Again, HP's issue isn't their enterprise business.  Their enterprise business is strong.  The problem for HP and they whole reason for this bruhaha is the fact that in the personal computer device market.  That is PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, HP is losing ground quickly. 

Every PC manufacturer has to have some sort of tablet solution, if not their going to be out of business in terms of the personal computing device market in the near future.  Laptops aren't going away.  PCs (towers/desktops) in the personal computing market are becoming a niche item.  The mobile devices, including laptops are the future.  HP has sucked in the laptop market for a long time.  They're shit compared to the rest of the offerings out there.  HP hasn't been on top of the mobile device market since it bought up Compaq in the early 2000's.  They bought up an OS company with the intention of using them for the mobile computing market, abandoned it, then sold it off.  They're floudering and they have no solution to an every shrinking world of the personal computing market that they're in.

This is not a new problem for HP, this has been a problem for them since the 1990's.  That's the whole reason they bought Compaq, because Compaq had that relationship with consumers in the personal computing market.  They suck at anything other than servers. 

"HP does not make any Microsoft products.  They do make a lot of products that use Microsoft software, and they will likely continue to do so." 

Alright, but that is entirely a matter of semantics.  Big deal.  Secondly you mention MSFT's server solutions, but IBM for example is starting to champion linux servers, and is spending a billion dollars over the next 4-5 years to promote linux servers bc they see the market moving towards linux.