Hewlett-Packard Co presented a breakdown of its worldwide business for the year to October 31 in Paris yesterday, demonstrating that from being a two-arm company where computers vied with instruments for supremacy a few years ago, it is now overwhelmingly a computer company with a few instrumentation activities tacked on the side. Hardware and systems for design, measurement, information processing and production – computers in the widest sense – accounted for $3,256m, up 8.7%, in 1987, making up 40.2% of the $8,090m total; peripherals and networks were not too far behind at $2,059m, up 16.9%, 25.4% of the total, and support and maintenance services were $1,540m, up 16.4%, 19% of the total. Medical electronic equipment was $618m, up 20.5%, and instruments for chemical analysis UKP388m, up a storming 28%. Components accounted for the UKP229m balance, up 10.6%. Geographically, sales in the US were up 8.1% at $4,122m, 50.9%; Europe was up 21.3% at UKP2,667m, 33% of the total. The rest of the world rose 24.8% to UKP644m or 8%. The geographical split is little changed from the position in 1982; net profit was 8% of turnover, up from 7.3% in 1986, 7.5% in 1985, but 9% in 1984.