Brace yourselves, webOS fans.
In the hours leading up to their Q3 conference call later today, HP has just confirmed that they will be discontinuing operations surrounding the TouchPad and all webOS phones. To quote their press release 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 .
This news will come as a rather huge punch to the gut for webOS die-hards (myself included, though you can’t say thatwe couldn’t see it coming), many of whom have stood by the product for years — first in hopes that Palm would eventually launch a device worthy of the rather fantastic operating system, and later in hopes that HP’s acquisition of Palm would be the spark to the fire that just never seemed to light.
On the upside, webOS itself isn’t dead — at least, not just yet. HP’s wording up above leaves things a bit vague, with at least two potential routes left open: licensing webOS to others, and sticking webOS in other, non-phone/tablet devices (HP has already mentioned plans to put it in printers and cars.) Until further notice, however, it’s essentially dead in the water.
Pour one out for webOS devices tonight, my fellow geeks.
And just like that, Palm's baby was abandoned. Among the "other announcements" in today's press release about the potential spinoff of its entire Personal Systems group (PCs, mobile devices, storage) is a note that the webOS ecosystem HP snagged for $1.2 billion a year ago is already being ditched.
"In addition, 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."
Among slightly lowered estimates for its 2011 revenue, HP confirms it's in talks with Autonomy Corporation plc about a "possible offer" for the company. A separation of HP the services company and HP the hardware manufacturer apparently leaves no room in the lifeboat for the Pre and TouchPad family of devices, but what happens next? We're sure there will be more pointed questions about what "optimizing the value of webOS software going forward" -- we vote for a quickie sale to one of Google's disgruntled hardware partners or better yet, opening it up for some community hackery -- means on the conference call scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern.
We have opened the next chapter for webOS, and we understand that you must have many questions. Yesterday we announced that we will focus on the future of webOS as a software platform but we will no longer be producing webOS devices. While this was a difficult decision, it's one that will strengthen our ability to focus on further innovating with webOS as we forge our path forward. Throughout this journey, our developers will continue to be a vital part of the future of webOS.
We will continue to support, innovate and develop the webOS App Catalog. Our intent is to enhance our merchandising and presentation of your great products and to continue to build our webOS app ecosystem.
As many of you are aware, we are currently scheduled to hold many developer events around the world. We are planning to continue with these events, however, due to the recent announcements; the nature of them will change. These updates will be posted on our events registration site this coming week. We are eager to present to you the updated strategy for webOS and to hear your feedback.
Lastly, I wish to express our sincere appreciation for your ongoing support for webOS and the many teams responsible for it here at HP. This is a particularly dynamic time in the mobile industry and sometimes tough decisions need to be made about not only what to do, but also what not to do. This has been one of those times. Together with our great webOS developer community, we are confident that we will meet the challenges ahead and build momentum for optimal success.
We will be communicating with you frequently over the next few weeks and we look forward to hearing from you throughout this process.
We have opened the next chapter for webOS, and we understand that you
must have many questions. Yesterday we announced that we will focus on
the future of webOS as a software platform but we will no longer be
producing webOS devices. While this was a difficult decision, it's one
that will strengthen our ability to focus on further innovating with
webOS as we forge our path forward. Throughout this journey, our
developers will continue to be a vital part of the future of webOS.
We will continue to support, innovate and develop the webOS App
Catalog. Our intent is to enhance our merchandising and presentation
of your great products and to continue to build our webOS app
ecosystem.
As many of you are aware, we are currently scheduled to hold many
developer events around the world. We are planning to continue with
these events, however, due to the recent announcements; the nature of
them will change. These updates will be posted on our events
registration site this coming week. We are eager to present to you
the updated strategy for webOS and to hear your feedback.
Lastly, I wish to express our sincere appreciation for your ongoing
support for webOS and the many teams responsible for it here at HP.
This is a particularly dynamic time in the mobile industry and
sometimes tough decisions need to be made about not only what to do,
but also what not to do. This has been one of those times. Together
with our great webOS developer community, we are confident that we
will meet the challenges ahead and build momentum for optimal success.
We will be communicating with you frequently over the next few weeks
and we look forward to hearing from you throughout this process.