Well, as I tweeted earlier today, it appears there is just too much out there regarding technology, blogging, mergers, etc. I try to stay up to date, however, no matter how much I wish I did, I do not get paid to browse the web reading articles, news up dates etc. regarding this information.
BUT, I did read up today on the fact that HP has discontinued support for the newly released (like 6 weeks ago) HP TouchPad and other WebOS devices. HP is the world’s largest computer maker, but they’ve had rather unsatisfactory success with mobile devices. More shocking to the current situation is the fact that HP bought Palm for a mere $1.2 billion, yes BILLION, in April 2010. They must have seen some sort of hope, with the sheer potential of the webOS platform, RIGHT? All of this comes shortly after HP announced it was looking to spin off it’s PC business, and is in talks with Autonomy, the 2nd largest pure-play software company in Europe.
In HP’s press release, detailing its preliminary Q3 2011 financial results, this was said:
“HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.”
So, with the HP TouchPad gone, who will Apple and their iPad be able to force out of the market next? As a quick comparison, although HP has not released sales figured for the TouchPad, a rather favorable estimate is 100,000 units sold in the six weeks it has been on the market, even after prices were dropped by $100 per unit. Compare this to the Apple iPad which sold 1 million units in its first 28 days, and 2 million units in its first 2 months. The TouchPad apparently didn’t stand a chance………even after a huge advertising campaign attempting to launch the product.
I would presume that next, on the chopping block, would be the Blackberry PlayBook, which has suffered setbacks along the way as well (but that’s for another blog) and lets not talk of Samsung’s legal battles with distribution in Europe and it’s delayed release in Australia.
With all of this said, I have two finishing thoughts………1) I am openly optimistic the Motorola Xoom will not suffer a similar fate that the TouchPad has, and 2) that you enjoyed this, my first attempt at a technology blog???
