HP announces its TouchPad and WeboS failure
HP has announced that the death of the TouchPad tablet and the uncertain future of WebOS can represent big issues for them, but partners may also be affected by the fallout. In its first major push into mobile in years, HP launched its TouchPad tablet in June. The tablet runs the Webos mobile operating system.
Leo Apotheker, CEO, HP, said that the options for WebOS remained open. We were successful at launching software that was poised with a differentiated user experience. We know that many developers feel the operating system is elegantly designed and is a respected platform. Therefore, we are exploring options for how best to optimize the value of Webos software going forward.
Cathie Lesjak, CFO, HP, in HP's fiscal third-quarter earnings call, said that HP has failed to reach its goal of turning WebOS into the number two player in the market behind Apple's iOS. Essentially, the TouchPad and our WebOS phone have not met our financial targets and other milestones that were set. To make this investment a financial success would require significant investments over the next one to two years, creating risk without clear returns. Therefore, we have decided to shut down operations around WebOS devices and we will be exploring strategic alternatives to optimize the value of the software platform and development capability.
HP's TouchPad tablet arrived DOA, despite an extensive TV ad campaign that features actor and comedian Russell Brand and Glee star Leah Michele. Chris Barnes, Vice-President, Research and Solutions Development, Gap Intelligence, a San Diego-based research firm that follows HP, wonders if the HP brass really believed the WebOS talking points also said that WebOS was such a linchpin of the company's overarching strategy; it was the virtual glue that tied together phones, PCs, tablets, printers," Barnes said. "It really makes you wonder whether HP's senior leadership ever really believed its own story about developing its own self-supporting ecosystem vis-a-vis Apple. [It] sounds more like they were dishing out the Kool-Aid but secretly drinking iced tea.
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