Just weeks after the release of HP’s new tablet PC, the TouchPad, HP announced that it is discontinuing the TouchPad and changing course. Not only is HP getting out of the tablet business, but it is discontinuing development of any device running its webOS operating system. You may recall that HP acquired webOS last year when it bought Palm. It had hoped webOS would compete successfully against Android, Windows Phone 7, and Apple’s iOS, but apparently the competition was too tough. Not only is HP giving up on mobile, but it is also looking to spin off or sell its entire PC division. This would leave HP to focus on enterprise systems. Towards this end HP has put in a bid to purchase enterprise analytics software vendor Autonomy for $10 billion in cash.
- HP bails out on the PC [Computerworld]
- HP’s webOS crashes under Apple, Android pressure [Computerworld]
- HP’s tablet exit no signal of iPad immunity, say analysts [Computerworld]
- WebOS developers mourn HP’s move but aren’t surprised [Computerworld]
- HP Strips Some Gears With Strategic Shift [Ecommerce Times]