Posts Tagged ‘WebOS’

Even as it prepares to launch a Windows 8-powered tablet next year, Hewlett-Packard is already looking forward to 2013 when a new WebOS tablet could reappear in the portfolio. Here’s why this idea may or may not fly.

A decision on the fate of WebOS, the operating system HP has kept in limbo since summer, was expected today. Instead, CEO Meg Whitman told employees the decision process is “complicated” and would take time. Complicated, indeed.

The head of Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group says the company isn’t looking to shed WebOS, the mobile operating system acquired from Palm. All other indications are HP will shutter the product by the end of November.

Hewlett-Packard gave its PC business a reprieve last week by deciding not to jettison it. WebOS, the operating system of its ill-fated TouchPad tablet, may not be so lucky.

A new study by the Boston Consulting Group shows strong preference for Microsoft Windows on tablets over the current market leader, Apple iOS. The data shows that Microsoft could do very well when it enters the tablet fray next year. And what’s good for Microsoft is good for its manufacturer and reseller partners.

As Hewlett-Packard continues to go through its leadership and strategic transition throws, stability seems elusive. The latest disruption: the potential sale of the former Palm business to Amazon. It’s a sign that instability is here for a while.

The Korean electronics giant has eliminated any speculation that it’s interested in Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group or its WebOS mobile operating system. The dwindling list of potential suitors makes a spinoff more likely.

Hewlett-Packard may be the largest technology company in the world, but it’s shaken its foundation and partner confidence with its radical transformation strategy and erratic decisions regarding core products, such as the TouchPad. Channelnomics is monitoring HP’s progress as it tries to right its ship.

Here we go again. Hewlett-Packard is reviving the damned TouchPad for one last manufacturing run to meet “stunning” demand. While this may seem like a reversal, there’s a more likely and contractual explanation for this tablet’s resurrection.

The TouchPad was declared dead less than two weeks ago, but there’s already talk of it making a comeback. Such notions will do nothing for restoring confidence in the vendor, which appears increasingly hapless and directionless.