EMC Equals Future of Hardware in CEO's Equation

Michael Ruettgers, president and CEO of data storage equipment firm EMC (EMC Quote), has a very familiar thesis: Forget the desktop PC, network-centric computing systems and handheld devices. With the Internet and the corporate IT buildout unleashing a torrent of information on the world, the next dominant hardware technology will be data storage.

"It's about the millionth time he's given that speech," remarked a weary attendee at this year's Merrill Lynch "Hardware Heaven" technology conference in midtown Manhattan, where Ruettgers delivered "that speech" Monday.

And investors have already gotten the message, bidding EMC up about 165% since this time last May, when Hewlett-Packard (HWP Quote) effectively terminated its sales partnership with the company by agreeing to resell storage systems made by EMC rival Hitachi (HIT Quote). At the time, with HP generating about 20% of EMC's revenue, things looked dire. The market immediately shaved about 10% off EMC's stock, despite Ruettgers' assurances that EMC would do just fine without HP. ...