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HP’s webOS dies a second death - where to now?
HP has officially killed off its webOS-based, which makes us wonder - is the world’s largest PC manufacturer the first real victim of the post-PC revolution?
WebOS is dead. Again.
Published on Aug 19, 2011
This week the technology industry has been rocked by two huge events: Google’s acquisition of Motorola and HP’s announcement last night that it’s abandoning webOS and, potentially, selling of its Personal Systems Group (PSG) - that’s its laptops and PC division, by the way.
The former has been covered pretty extensively. Officially, Google bought Motorola to protect Android. The Motorola acquisition will bring upwards of 20,000 patents into Google’s possession.
But HP’s bombshell is still pretty fresh in everyone’s mind, as are the immediate implications of the decision. The HP TouchPad, Pre 3 and all mobile activities are now officially dead. That means if you’re one of the 16 people that’s bought a TouchPad, you might want to find your receipt and get that device returned before the 30-day return-period expires (Ed: or just enjoy your collectors item).
The technology world is now changing, especially the mobile sector. Nokia is in bed with Microsoft and Google is in the process of absorbing Motorola. Then, of course, there’s Apple somewhere near to top and RIM, the last of the dinosaurs, content to plod-on towards a QNX-based future that no one seems bothered about.
Maybe HP realised it didn’t stand a chance in an industry dominated by highly experienced, tooled-up, multinational corporations with legions of dedicated developers. In this respect, you could argue that HP is the first real victim of the post-PC revolution.
What happened?
Just over a year ago, HP acquired Palm for the princely sum of $1.2 billion. HP’s execs were quick to point out that they had no intention of entering the mobile space. Instead they were keen on putting webOS to better uses, such as inside PCs and printers.
But no sooner had the ink dried on those reports, HP confirmed that it would be releasing webOS-powered smartphones and tablets. HP was officially entering one of the most competitive market places on earth, joining the likes of Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Speaking to TechCrunch, Brian Humphries, HP’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development, said:
‘We think it’s one of the best operating systems out there today. We see nothing in development in the next 3 to 5 years that comes close.’
He added: ‘We want to take HP’s financial strength and use it to take webOS to the next level.’
Many were optimistic about HP’s smartphone and tablet aspirations. The company, after all, is one of the biggest tech vendors in the world. But no sooner had HP’s mobile mission begun, similar issues to the one’s that plagued Palm began to surface. The big one, in our opinion, is that webOS has simply failed to attract developers. Neither Palm nor HP could sell the platform to developers - iOS and Android are just too popular and too lucrative.
The culmination of HP’s failings in the mobile sector reached a crescendo following the release of its first webOS-powered tablet device, the HP TouchPad, which has performed poorly sales-wise.
‘An internal sales report cited by AllThingsD,’ reported Information Week, ‘says that the company has sold less than 10 per cent of its stockpile of 270,000 TouchPads. A second source confirmed the numbers, and even suggested that the sales figures might be too high because they don't account for returns.’
