No, HP, you're off the mark

By on Aug 20, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Featured August 20, 2011

Oh nooo. That was the first thought that crossed my mind as I began to read Jon Zilber’s post on HP’s company blog. Quoting Mark Twain? Oh no he didn’t. In a nutshell, Zilber’s intent was to correct the world’s press, which collectively played Taps while standing over webOS’s grave this past week. ”To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports about the demise of webOS have been off the mark,” Zilber wrote. ”HP has made these tough decisions to ensure that our efforts with webOS remain tightly focused. Far from burying webOS, our goal is to ensure the platform’s evolution as a robust operating system for an increasingly mobile and connected world.” OK, time to set the record straight. Read on for more.

We did not misunderstand HP’s comments when it drove the knife into webOS’s back. We were all on the earnings call from start to finish, trying figure out whether to laugh or cry as the knife was repeatedly twisted. We heard HP’s plan, or lack thereof, and we read the company loud and clear.

WebOS is dead.

The beauty of the tech world, however, is that ghosts are real. Just ask Apple. HP has murdered webOS, make no mistake about it. But now that its body has been lowered into the earth and covered with six feet of unsold TouchPads, HP will embark on a new journey in an attempt to resurrect it. Truth be told, though, I believe these efforts will be short-lived.

Who will license HP’s webOS in the current mobile landscape? And why? WebOS couldn’t break into the market with the world’s No. 1 PC vendor, millions of dollars, teams of bright minds and a massive ad campaign behind it. What company will try its hand with the OS after that colossal failure? What developer will stick around and wait, betting on some other significant player to come make a massive investment in a platform that not even HP’s millions could sell to consumers?

If HP gave up on webOS devices after just 16 months, I don’t see how the company can expect any other major player to even consider taking the platform seriously.

Unless a company with the capability to truly resurrect the OS comes along and licenses it, yes, webOS is dead. But who might come to the rescue? Android is free — sort of — and it’s ripping through the market right now. Big boys like Samsung and HTC have made massive investments in Google’s mobile platform, and they already have Windows Phone as a solid No. 2.

So who else is there? ZTE, Huawei and other companies that fall into the “others” category on market share charts? Why bother; Android is free and these vendors are actually doing pretty well with the platform right now. Dell? No, Dell is too busy laughing at HP. Motorola? Yeah, probably not. Nokia? That ship has sailed. RIM? It’s not going to happen. RIM is investing tons of resources in QNX and you know what? QNX is a pretty great platform. With RIM’s history and carrier relationships alongside support for the Android app ecosystem, I think RIM likes its chance right now. Truth be told, I like them too.

Who does that leave? Maybe HP will finally toss webOS onto printers. Maybe Kenmore will stuff webOS into a few smart refrigerators or toasters — though with Android out there as a free and open option, I’m not sure what the appeal would be.

My unsolicited advice, HP: shut up and take your shots. You spent $1.2 billion on Palm 16 months ago, and you’ve already given up on selling webOS devices. To make matters worse, you’re now financing a fire sale on TouchPads and further tarnishing your brand in an attempt to shove dead-end devices into consumers’ hands just so you get some nominal return. Shame on you.

So now, you’re going to get ripped up over it. Deal with it.

If some company comes along to license webOS for huge money and then uses the platform to revolutionize the deli meat slicer industry, fine, we’ll all eat crow. I’ll eat crow with a giant smile on my face, I might add, because I’ve always been a huge fan of webOS. Until then, however, sit back and take your shots like a multi-billion dollar corporation that just screwed the pooch should.

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  • TXRanger

    You are soooo off the mark.  In case you missed it, Google bought Motorola.  They are now a HANDSET manufacturer, competing directly against the dozens of mfgrs who licensed Android.  They will ALL be looking for an OS to license so that they are not putting money in Google’s pocket…and voila!  HP is out of the handset business and has a killer OS to license.  Seems like a pretty nimble way to go at Google to me.

  • Anonymous

    I just got a touchpad for $149. Yes, HP, You’re right on the mark.

    • Mortimer

      Hope you enjoy the apps currently in the HP app store because you’ll never see another pro-level app introduced for WebOS, ever again. Three cheers for a dead OS.

      • Anonymous

        u mad, bro? Probably angry cause you paid 500 for an inferior ipad.

      • Anonymous

        I can guarantee that you will. Its called webosinternals. They are twice as avid about webos as xda is about android. Fo shizzle. 

  • http://profiles.google.com/jayq330 Jonathan Oquendo

    i hope the $99 price will get people to take the chance & try out webOS, maybe they’ll like it enough to buy a palm pre 3.. i think they screwed up for starting up there with the android & iOS, i mean even microsoft started with there pmp Zune player & when people wanted a phone they got it a year later. since they were making it a phone to begin with they should of got rid of that all plastic look, it didnt look that bad but some style would of been nice, i would of got the hint that men weren’t interested in the phone’s look when verizon started commercializing it as a woman’s phone in the ads & commercials. that stupid round river stone crap, who didnt want to change it? why? should of called HTC for some help on the look.

  • CWolf1

    I was there when HP bought out Compaq.  I was there when HP bought out EDS.   When these two events happened HP forced (as in really FORCED) everyone to quit.  The word “redundancy” was never on the table because it costs more than to force someone to quit. 

    The reason why WebOS is dead is probably because HP FORCED out all the good Palm engineers and developers out. 

    Serves `em right!

    • http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/ BoyRetardedReport

      Yeah my mom worked at EDS as a programmer and when they combined with HP she ‘left’. I always hated them…

  • J. Williams

    glad i was able to get me one, and its a great device overall.

  • Quietriot84

    What if Intel purchased WebOS

  • Major Plonquer

    I couldn’t have put it better myself.  So I won’t.  10/10.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BUCEVLCXPMFYLDLMZMYDI3JMXI Mindy Weber

    I just paìd $22.85 for an ìPad 2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her her Panasonìc Lumìx GF 1 Camera that we got for $38.78 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 40 inch LED TV to my boss for $625 which only cost me $62.81 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentHûb.côm

  • Gulam Zilani

    Love the article! Brilliantly put.

  • Anonymous

    So i have a diff spin on all this, yes major blunder on HP’s Part, but revers thinking on any CEO at HP, Rubenstein are you listening???? 99bucks flying off the shelfs, company taking loss on sale,, yes,, but just what if that 30% you take from developers apps made up for the difference? What I’m suggesting that if HP bolstered there developer support by getting them the tools needed, maybe provide some hardware for testing, and really got behind the developer community,, HP web os could be the biggest hit we have all seen since the iPad….the key to making money is getting the touchpad into everyones hands,, 99 bucks,, you’ve done that,, now sell sell sell those apps….web os is one of my favorite platforms even though i am an apple person, i could see a strategy like this working!!! comments?

    • Anonymous

      No, they’re having a fire sale. 

  • Jduk

    HP is gone, FINALLY. Thank GOD. This company has long been a joke among the industry. Its achievement was never near IBM or Dell. HP is also one of the most despised company by all its OEM suppliers. Why? Go check out the people who worked in HP. Amateurs managers. Lousy product design procedures. Copycat here and there, but never came near Dell. BYE BYE HP. From Taiwan.

  • MacGoo

    On point across the board. I too mourn the passing of WebOS, but it is what it is. And what it is is dead.

  • Sv

    INQ to the rescue!

  • http://twitter.com/GoonerYoda JC

    Apple’s next target…Sony.

  • dmac

    I think the only strategy that will work is to take a page from RIM’s book and try to build a better Android. Keep WebOS and add the capability to run Android apps. Give away the OS for free and start your own app store. The trouble is that HP is not the best placed company to compete in software and a cloud strategy. Someone like Amazon would be more able to pull it off.

  • Bob

    You are forgetting they purchased Autonomy.  A search engine and a mobile OS tightly integrated — think, you fool, think.

  • http://www.jphotog.com Hrunga Zmuda

    You had some momentum there until you called Windows phone a solid number two. 

    What the…?

    That’s about as clue-impaired a thing to be said as I’ve heard in a long, long time. Windows phones are now so far behind iOS that there’s little chance they’ll ever resurrect that zombie. This quarter, 2011 it’s a four percent. FOUR PERCENT!

    • Anonymous

      A number 2, as in they (OEMs) have a viable second option after Android, instead of having to develop their own OS. They can’t license iOS, so the comparison isn’t valid.

      The point was, if OEMs want to diversify and hedge their Android bets, why turn to webOS when they have WP7 waiting in the wings? 

      • http://www.jphotog.com Hrunga Zmuda

        Yes, I can see that point. But if I were a developer, I’d be writing for iOS or Android, not Windows 7. Of course, people could argue that Apple used to have 2.5 percent market share and look at them now. But the problem with that is, there’s little chance Microsoft is going to be a good friend in the long run. A few examples, WebTV, PlaysForSure, bastardized Kerberos, Java, IE 6, etc.

  • Anonymous

    Zach, we can all spot a coverup when we see one. Especially when your site posts the “RIP webOS” article underneath. Good punchline-headlines don’t make ad clicks.

    Additionally, don’t try to route-out the ecosystems you don’t use for your personal (read: non company capital) devices. It’s pretty weak.

  • http://www.letstalktablets.com letstalktablets

    What’s so bad about quoting Mark Twain? lol

  • Macchi

    Actually, if HP was really smart. They could now resurrect the TouchPad after three days of orgy. They have a wide base now, where they could build the future of WebOS. This could be seen as a disguised dumping to keep Apple’s lawyers from smelling blood.

  • Anonymous

    The worst part about all of this is RIM is still selling the Playbook.  It’s a very Handsome device but so many design cues stolen from webOS.  They gave up before the Playbook?  They didn’t even try for the holiday season!!!  Sad!!

  • Cmule

    I’ve had my Hp touchpad for 2 weeks now and I love it, wish I wish I could get iTunes on it but hey this thing is nice a little slow sometimes and I would like them to still work on they app store, I guess will see what happens,

  • David Min

    Hilarious that the popularity of the fire-sale of HP Touchpads has seemingly reignited interest by HP in WebOS.

    I agree, WebOS is dead.  Please don’t exhume the corpse HP!

  • http://twitter.com/bryanilee2 Bryan Lee

    Flummoxed, I say!

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