HP Update: We Say Farewell to TouchPad and WebOS

  • HP has decided to end its recently launched TouchPad tablet and will take a $100 million loss on unsold inventory. (Interestingly, tech columnist Andy Ihnatko was getting ready to write a mixed but generally positive review of the TouchPad for the Chicago Sun-Times.)
  • Additionally, on the heels of the company announcing it would be integrating its webOS with smart appliances and other devices, HP now says there will be no more webOS phones. It did apparently leave the option open to licensing webOS to third parties.
  • In related news, AllThingsD reports that HP’s recent decision to stop the development of its webOS puts it’s personal computer business in a perilous position, and rumors are spreading as to what the company’s next step will be.
  • The most likely option involves a spin-off PC business as a separate company, much like Motorola did at the beginning of the year.
  • If HP decides to sell instead, it is likely that an Asian company will step forward to make the purchase — and the front-runner seems to be Samsung. The predicted price if a sale were to occur is placed at around $20 billion.

6 Comments

  1. From the reviews i read the TouchPad was one of the best tablet devices out there. Apple created the Tablet space, and I think in consumer’s minds when they hear tablet, they think the ipad. This will play out the same way ipod took over the MP3 player space.

  2. From the reviews i read the TouchPad was one of the best tablet devices out there. Apple created the Tablet space, and I think in consumer’s minds when they hear tablet, they think the ipad. This will play out the same way ipod took over the MP3 player space.

  3. If HP leaves the home PC market, will that help to boost Apple’s laptop and desktop market share?

  4. If HP leaves the home PC market, will that help to boost Apple’s laptop and desktop market share?

  5. HP decides it cannot compete with Apple. To be fair, this was a strategy promoted by HP’s former CEO. Their current CEO is from SAP, a software company. So it now wants to be IBM or Oracle.

  6. HP decides it cannot compete with Apple. To be fair, this was a strategy promoted by HP’s former CEO. Their current CEO is from SAP, a software company. So it now wants to be IBM or Oracle.

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