In news that’s going to shock the early adopters of HP TouchPad, HP has said it will wash its hands off webOS devices. At its quarterly financial conference call, HP said that it plans to “discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones” while continuing to “explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.”
That’s pretty much the death knell for the sale of any webOS devices from now on. As it is, HP TouchPad sales were disappointing. We knew that. We also knew that HP would have to admit it failed with the HP TouchPad at some point. What we did not expect from the mighty manufacturer that acquired Palm for $1.2 billion was to throw in the towel just 49 days after making the HP TouchPad available to customers.
This news is certainly going to shake webOS fans out there. Take heart from the fact that HP is not discontinuing webOS as a platform, only webOS devices. HP’s Stephen DeWitt says “We are not walking away from webOS.” HP has talked about webOS licensing and bringing the platform to printers, cars and other devices. Perhaps, webOS will survive through these avenues.
HP should prepare to face the wrath of HP TouchPad buyers who will probably be thronging retail stores to return their tablets. It’s a sad day for HP TouchPad. There are other tablets (read XOOM) in the same waters as HP TouchPad, but they’re not giving in so easily. Is HP right to give up so soon? I don’t think so because I believe webOS can be made into something great and even the HP TouchPad isn’t so bad. It may not reach the heights of iPad 2 but with an improved OS, apps and better features, it could have a chance. Of course, opinions differ.
TechCrunch’s Greg Kumparak has an interesting suggestion to make to HP. Since Google has acquired Motorola for $12.5 billion, it has shifted its mantle from a free open-source OS provider to a manufacturer, even though it says Motorola will continue as a separate entity. Anyway, Kumparak suggests (and I see many webOS fans have the same idea) that HP should make webOS open source and let manufacturer’s (who will see Google as a competitor rather than partner now) such as Samsung, LG, Sony, etc., have it to build their handsets on. Not a bad idea at all.
HP continues its HP TouchPad foray in European Union with the HP TouchPad 64GB making an appearance on HP’s French website. The tab comes with the 1.5GHz dual core processor from snapdragon and retails for €599 ($860 approx). It will be available in “lacquer white,” when it ships in “one to two weeks.” Looks like EU is quite the favorite with HP, more than the US anyway.
How will HP’s sales be impacted in EU after this news? I think it’ll be the same everywhere. What do you say?
[via techcrunch, engadget]
