hp leaves tablet, pc business

trekkie · **Posted:** August 21st, 2011, 12:28 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14584428

Hewlett Packard has confirmed plans to stop making PCs, tablets and phones, in order to refocus on software.

It has also emerged that the US company has agreed to buy UK software firm Autonomy for £7.1bn ($11.7bn).

HP added that it was considering selling its personal systems group, which includes the world's biggest PC-making business, and that it will discontinue its webOS devices.

The webOS operating system is used in its tablet computers and smartphones.
Refocus

The announcements mark a significant U-turn for the company, which announced in a March strategic review that it would integrate webOS into all of its future hardware.

HP had launched its Pre smartphone as a competitor to the iPhone and devices based on Google's Android operating system.

However, WebOS failed to gain traction with reviewers, operators and retailers.

The decision to ditch the Pre, as well as its TouchPad tablet computers, comes despite paying $1.2bn (£727m) last year to buy up the technology through its acquisition of Palm.

There have been long-running rumours that chief executive Leo Apotheker, who recently joined from German rival SAP, wanted to refocus the company away from its traditional hardware business towards its smaller, but much more profitable, software lines.

Adbot · **Posted:** August 21st, 2011, 12:28 am

Evelyn · **Posted:** August 21st, 2011, 10:15 am

Well, HP hardware had proved to be more or less unreliable (mostly in their laptops), but I'm not sure what kind of software HP even creates.

Duke Juker · RSBandB Donor since 07/01/2010

Good. I'm glad they are getting out of the laptop business. They weren't doing that great a job.

trekkie · **Posted:** August 21st, 2011, 10:28 pm

i agree, their computers were always crap. only people who bought them was because maybe of name brand or the price.

edit:

http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/HP-Touc ... 1&usri=hp%2Btouchpad

B&N selling the tablet for 101.95. get it now before they are all gone.

Pennstate315 · Runite Member 5-25-10

My friends HP laptop was so unreliable. He sold it after 2 years and just got a Dell.

Evelyn · **Posted:** August 22nd, 2011, 10:28 am

I'm surprised that laptop even lasted 2 years.

Adbot · **Posted:** August 22nd, 2011, 10:28 am

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

Just got my Touchpad 32gb version. So far, so good. So for once, I'll say, "Thank You" to HP.

I haven't heard great things about their laptops, but even so, it's surprising they're pulling out of the hardware business. While their profits aren't stellar for the revenue they pull in, they're still making a half billion USD per quarter. Ah well, at least they left a nice parting gift.

trekkie · **Posted:** September 2nd, 2011, 10:12 pm

Quote:

Hewlett Packard is so in love with the idea of losing money by selling its HP TouchPad tablet at $99 that it’s putting the thing back into production. Actually the company appears to be in trouble with contracted component suppliers, who were burned when Hewlett Packard pulled the plug on the TouchPad after less than two months on the market. After a fire sale designed to burn off unsellable inventory resulted in a flurry of geek headlines and a resulting minor run on the remaining inventory, HP is capitalizing on the publicity by sending a few more TouchPad units to market. You still shouldn’t buy one unless you know what you’re getting yourself into. At ninety-nine dollars, the HP TouchPad sells for about one-fifth of the Apple iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and other rivals. But unlike those products, the TouchPad is DOA. Beyond the current overtime run which should get the company out of the crosshairs of component suppliers who are sitting on parts they’re probably forcing HP to pay for at this point, this is a discontinued product. That means no support beyond what HP is legally required to give you. The TouchPad’s operating system webOS, despite a few token gestures on the part of HP aimed at creating the illusion that it’ll live on, has been shelved. That means no software updates from HP, not for new features, not for security reasons. No new versions of built-in apps like the web browser. And the handful of third party app developers who did join the TouchPad party are already on their way out of town. That means no App Store, like iPad users have access to. Still, there are a few isolated instances in which the $99 TouchPad is simply too good of a deal to pass up…

more touchpads coming out

Bonsai99 · **Posted:** September 2nd, 2011, 10:48 pm

trekkie wrote:

Quote:

Hewlett Packard is so in love with the idea of losing money by selling its HP TouchPad tablet at $99 that it’s putting the thing back into production. Actually the company appears to be in trouble with contracted component suppliers, who were burned when Hewlett Packard pulled the plug on the TouchPad after less than two months on the market. After a fire sale designed to burn off unsellable inventory resulted in a flurry of geek headlines and a resulting minor run on the remaining inventory, HP is capitalizing on the publicity by sending a few more TouchPad units to market. You still shouldn’t buy one unless you know what you’re getting yourself into. At ninety-nine dollars, the HP TouchPad sells for about one-fifth of the Apple iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and other rivals. But unlike those products, the TouchPad is DOA. Beyond the current overtime run which should get the company out of the crosshairs of component suppliers who are sitting on parts they’re probably forcing HP to pay for at this point, this is a discontinued product. That means no support beyond what HP is legally required to give you. The TouchPad’s operating system webOS, despite a few token gestures on the part of HP aimed at creating the illusion that it’ll live on, has been shelved. That means no software updates from HP, not for new features, not for security reasons. No new versions of built-in apps like the web browser. And the handful of third party app developers who did join the TouchPad party are already on their way out of town. That means no App Store, like iPad users have access to. Still, there are a few isolated instances in which the $99 TouchPad is simply too good of a deal to pass up…

more touchpads coming out

Let's hope I can get one this time...

Oh random comment: My friend sat on his hp laptop and bent the screen really badly needless to say the screen doesn't work anymore.

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

bonsai99 wrote:

Let's hope I can get one this time...

Oh random comment: My friend sat on his hp laptop and bent the screen really badly needless to say the screen doesn't work anymore.

They're pretty fun little devices. Overclock from 1.2 -> 1.5 via Preware/Govnah, and you'll be happier. Turn off excessive logging, and a few other tweaks, and you'll be extremely happy. Throw in the Android port that should be showing up fairly soon, and it's just about the best $99-150 you can spend on a tablet.

And as for the random comment.. So your friend sat on a computer, broke it, and now it doesn't work. I don't understand why that's surprising :lol:

Bonsai99 · **Posted:** September 8th, 2011, 2:31 pm

Pfkninenines wrote:

So your friend sat on a computer, broke it, and now it doesn't work. I don't understand why that's surprising :lol:

It wasn't really supposed to be surprising

Anyway, do you think the prices of hp laptops will drop significantly since hp announced that they are no longer going to be making them?

Duke Juker · RSBandB Donor since 07/01/2010

Any idea if they'll continue to support the laptops they've already sold permanently or will they stop after a while? I'm assuming support will remain for at least a short time.

Evelyn · **Posted:** September 8th, 2011, 9:13 pm

I have a good feeling that the average quality of all laptops will rise.

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

Support is supposed to be carried through, and HP might not actually be getting out of the PC business. So, I'd assume HP laptops are likely going to be around for a bit longer.. I wouldn't expect a fire sale on laptops / desktops in the foreseeable future.