HP to Acquire Symantec

Aims to Provide Fully Integrated Systems, Storage, and Security Management Solutions

Pal Alto, Calif., – April 1, 2008 – HP today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), a publicly-traded acquirer of security, storage and systems management solutions.

HP plans to leverage Symantec’s technologies to make securing desktops and networks more frustrating and less convenient that it already is. Symantec’s technologies leverage multiple disparate agents all vying for system resources, without an integrated platform, unified console, or shared vision.

HP plans to make this bungled mess of non-integrated solutions and failed acquisitions broadly available to people by working to also not integrate what Symantec failed to integrate. Together, HP and its partner companies will provide customers with a vastly less efficient and more costly systems management experience then even Symantec was able to provide on its own.“HP’s goal is to make desktop security the most difficult and worst possible experience for all people – whether they are managing a single computer or thousands,” said Tomas E. Hogan, senior vice president, Software, HP. “By acquiring Symantec’s technology and making it available to companies that are used to a base level of systems manageability, HP will be firmly on the path to completely destroying what is already regarded as the worst aspect of most systems adminstrators existence -managing and securing computing devices.”

“We couldn’t be more delighted that HP has finally removed the burden of trying to integrate the non-integratable.” Stated John W. Thomson, chairman and chief executive officer, Symantec. “It has been a long and arduous road with over a dozen failed acquisitions, quite honestly it was becoming difficult to keep up the facade of a unified vision much longer.”

The acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions and is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed as of the press release.

About HP

HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $94.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in infrastructure software, enabling businesses and consumers to have confidence in a connected world. The company helps customers protect their infrastructure, information, and interactions by delivering software and services that address risks to security, availability, compliance, and performance. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws, including expectations regarding the closing of HP’s acquisition of Symantec and the integration, or lack thereof, of its products and technologies into HP’s products and solutions, that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in this press release. Such risk factors include, among others, satisfaction of closing conditions to the transaction, our ability to successfully integrate the merged businesses and technologies, and customer demand for the technologies and integrated product offerings. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections of HP’s and Symantec’s most recently filed Forms 10-K and 10-Q. HPassumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this press release.