HP Pulls Plug on its WebOS Products; Making Changes to its PC Business

[Rob Williams]

In a surprising move, HP has announced that it's cancelling all of its WebOS products, including the Pre and TouchPad, and is unsure of what to do with the OS itself. As someone who has had a keen interest in WebOS due to its openness and overall potential, this news is a bit upsetting, and to be honest, it's also a little hard to fathom from any angle.

Read the rest of our post and then discuss it here!

 

[2Tired2Tango]

Read "Chapter 11" ....

 

[Rob Williams]

Read "Chapter 11" ....

Sure, what paragraph?

/horrible joke

 

[MacMan]

It's sad to see the Touch Pad and Pre-Phones die, but I have the sneaky feeling that HP will license WebOS out the way that Microsoft now does Windows.

However, on the other hand, as I read somewhere, who is going to want to license an OS that no one, not even mighty HP, could make a success out even though they have now been trying their darnedest for over three-and-a-half years?

The Amiga, the Zune, OS 2 Warp, etc., were all great OS's or what have you, but despite all that they had going for them they still failed nonetheless, which, of course, is really disappoi

WHOOPS! Some how I boo-booed above and posted twice; I'm such a weeb!

 

[MacMan]

It's sad to see the Touch Pad and Pre-Phones die, but I have the sneaky feeling that HP will license WebOS out the way that Microsoft now does Windows. However, on the other hand, as I read somewhere, who is going to want to license an OS that no one, not even mighty HP, could make a success out even though they have now been trying their darnedest for over three-and-a-half years?

The Amiga, the Zune, OS 2 Warp, etc., were all great OS's or what have you, but despite all that they had going for them they still failed nonetheless, which, of course, is really disappointing.

That said, I recently was reviewing someone who read an old post that I wrote ( http://my2cents4theday.blogspot.com/2011/05/watch-out-ipad-hp-claims-its-touchpad.html ) concerning HP's Mr. Eric Cador's frank prediction on how the Touch Pad would do in the market; in it he predicted that:

“In the PC world, with fewer ways of differentiating HP’s products from our competitors, we became number one; in the tablet world we’re going to become better than number one. We call it number one plus.”


Unfortunately, the Touch Pad was doing even worse then the rest of the other so-called iPad killers out there, such as the Xoom ( http://blogs.computerworld.com/18094/ipad_2_vs_xoom_sales_comparison_ugly_for_motorola ) that are also gathering dust in warehouses. Android tablets, for example, boast of pretty descent ship numbers, but actual sales numbers have been extremely disappointing with high return rates of up to 42 percent, as opposed to the 2 percent return for the iPad. ( http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2011/08/15/tablet_sales_stagnating/ )

In the end, however, I'm sure that we haven't heard the last from WebOS. Whether it will be successfully resurrected that is another question?

 

[marfig]

In the end, however, I'm sure that we haven't heard the last from WebOS.

I agree. It's always a possibility they will just sell it to the highest bidder. But I really don't understand why Ars Technica writer Casey Johnston thinks it is unlikely for it to go open source. It's a whole new game they are playing now, and like when IBM dropped their personal computer business, HP will probably want to broaden their reach in the software business by appealing to the open source audience as vectors for further business. Getting WebOS onto the FOSS community while retaining some manner of control (à la linux) is a good business strategy for a company that is starting entirely from scratch, I think.

Likewise, if the HP giant couldn't make anything of WebOS, what company thinks they will and is likely to purchase it? Unless there's a new player on the mobile market we aren't aware of, I don't see how anyone wants to risk it. Sony could have been a buyer a few months ago when it's CEO admitted how unprepared they were to this new market. But they are now committed to Microsoft. So, that's a no. I can't think of anyone else.

 

[Kougar]

lol Rob

Yeah. So much to say about this, but it all amounts to just one thing. HP could of made webOS into a long term iPad contender and easily into a profitable investment, and instead when they didn't see the short-term profits they decided to bail. And because the margins are thin in the PC business it's no longer worth their time either. HP barely had time to do anything with webOS, and with the most recent announcements, it is safe to say this strategy of buying up other companies has melted tens of billions of dollars out of the company's profits.

With a background education in business and some insight into the CEO, I can understand why HP is shifting gears in radical fashion. I don't fully agree with it and I think Apotheker realizes as much as anyone else that this is going to be a gamble for HP, but at least he is taking responsibility and acknowledging that fact. Certainly one hell of a way to shake up the industry though... it will be interesting to see if this makes or breaks it for HP.

 

[MacMan]

lol Rob

............ but at least he is taking responsibility and acknowledging that fact. Certainly one hell of a way to shake up the industry though... it will be interesting to see if this makes or breaks it for HP.

I agree 100% with you.

The last CEO brought Palm, but at least the current CEO is man enough to see that no one is really making any money or headway with tablets, other than Apple, and I think he has shown a lot of guts in making this decision, whether or no he is right on the matter or not. Not too many men would have the courage to make such a bold move so I'll at least give him a tip-of-the-hat for that!