Symantec May Be Following HP And Splitting In Two

Symantec, the well-known security firm which offers the Norton brand of antivirus products, is apparently considering splitting into two different companies.

One would be the security arm, and the other would deal with the data storage side, according to Bloomberg's sources. One source said that an announcement could potentially be just weeks away, seemingly indicating that this is a proposition Symantec is taking very seriously.

They'd certainly be in good company right now, with eBay making the decision to spin off PayPal, and HP set to split into a PC and printer division, and corporate hardware and services.

When it was asked for comment, Symantec didn't say anything at this point, predictably enough.

The company has been struggling of late, with revenue down, and the decline in the PC market not helping the firm push its security products. Back in April it was enlisting the help of big banks to formulate a strategy to defend against activist investors.

The split would appear to be a defensive option, then, and could mean that the smaller chunks are a juicier prospect for acquisition by larger firms who may be after a security offering (such as when Intel bought McAfee).

We'll keep a close eye on the situation, but if anything is going to happen, it will happen soon enough by all accounts.