Big changes ahead at HP

Stephen Withers
Friday, 19 August 2011 08:56

IT Industry - Strategy

A major shakeup is underway at HP. The company has decided to drop webOS and is considering the divestiture of its PC business. It has boosted its enterprise software operations with a deal to acquire of Autonomy.

HP's TouchPad only went on sale in Australia on Monday, but the company announced overnight that it will "discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones."

The explanation given was that webOS devices had not met internal milestones or financial targets. The company previously appeared to have big plans for the operating system it inherited with the acquisition of Palm in 2010, indicating that it would also be used in notebooks and desktop PCs, printers, and embedded in cars and home appliances. That would have put it into competition with Windows Embedded and Android.

But it seems HP's top management has decided that webOS has missed the boat. But work on the platform may not have ended completely, with officials saying the company "will continue to explore options to optimise the value of webOS software". That covers various possibilities from arranging for software maintenance for the devices that have already been sold to finding a new owner for webOS.

webOS is highly regarded from a technical perspective, but if Palm and HP were unable to make it fly, who else could put it on a commercial footing?

HP is also considering the fate of its PC business. HP has been the world's largest PC vendor since the acquisition of Compaq in 2002, but now wants to focus on higher-value activities.

"Exploring alternatives" - page 2.