Leo Apotheker has been replaced as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard by Meg Whitman, the former head of eBay.

惠普行政长官莱奥·阿普赛克被梅格·惠特曼取代，惠特曼之前是eBay首脑。

Mr Apotheker was in the job less than a year, but had overseen¹ a collapse² in the share price and a fall in sales.

Ms Whitman, who once ran for governor of California, resigned from eBay in 2008 and is credited with building it into a global force.

HP announced the departure after board meeting on Thursday, but there had been speculation³ for days about his future.

In a statement, Ray Lane, who was named executive chairman, said: "We are fortunate to have someone of Meg Whitman's calibre（才干，水平） and experience step up to lead HP.

"We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement⁴ our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead."

Ms Whitman said in a statement: "I am honoured and excited to lead HP. I believe HP matters - it matters to Silicon⁵ Valley, California, the country and the world."

It would be the second time in two years Mr Apotheker has been forced out of a top job. He stood down from German business software maker⁶ SAP last year, after less than a year as chief executive.

He took over HP after the departure of former boss Mark Hurd, who quit after a sexual harassment⁷（性骚扰） investigation⁸.

The new chief replaced a third of the HP board, brought in Ms Whitman, announced plans to sell the personal computer division - the world's largest - and bought UK software maker Autonomy for £7.1bn ($11.7bn).

But his strategy has failed to impress investors⁹. HP's shares have fallen 45.4% this year, making it one of the worst performers in the Dow Jones index of leading US companies.