Hewlett-Packard forecasts 10% earnings drop in 2013

Investors evidently didn't like what they heard. HP's stock plunged 13 percent after Whitman's presentation, shoving the company's shares to their lowest level in nearly a decade. Shares closed down $2.22 at $14.91.

HP's troubles stem from a combination of managerial malaise, high-priced acquisitions that haven't paid off, and an inability to offset the damage done to its personal computer and printer divisions by the rising popularity of smartphones and tablet computers.

Whitman maintained that she inherited a bloated, poorly managed company that hasn't been innovating quickly enough in any of its divisions, from PCs and printers to software and data storage.

In a recurring theme during her tenure, Whitman said she would instill the discipline, focus, and accountability needed to rehabilitate HP, but she reiterated that the recovery would take several years to complete.

It could be 2015 before HP's revenue growth begins to accelerate again, Whitman said. By 2016, she envisions HP's revenue increasing at the same pace as the U.S. economy's overall growth, with earnings rising at a faster clip.

"It is going to take longer to right this ship than any of us would like," Whitman said.

Investors are worried that HP's woes will allow its competitors - a long list that includes Apple Inc., IBM Corp., and Oracle Corp. - to race even further ahead.

In her shake-up of HP, Whitman has already reshuffled management and started to eliminate 29,000 jobs through employee buyouts, attrition, and layoffs. She emphasized to analysts Wednesday that she was imposing more internal controls to align employees' paychecks with their performance.