Hewlett-Packard said Thursday it had named Meg Whitman, the former eBay chief, as president and chief executive officer, replacing Leo Apotheker at the world's biggest computer maker. "We are fortunate to have someone of Meg Whitman's caliber and experience step up to lead HP," said Ray Lane, who was named executive chairman of the computer giant. "We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement. Meg is a technology visionary with a proven track record of execution."