One of the corporate butt coverers at HP, Jon Zilber, posted on the HP Palm blog that the planet was wrong.
WebOS isn’t dead. Its very much alive and kicking, just in some strange undead form and no one has been smart enough to see it.
He says “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.“
I’m kind of curious to see exactly how this is going to happen.
Let’s try to imagine the conversation.
HP: WebOS has a huge future. We’ll cut you an amazing licensing deal on it. You can develop phones and tablets using it and compete against Android and iOS.
Prospective Licensee: Didn’t you guys try that?
HP: Yes.
Prospective Licensee: And how did that work out for you?
HP: It was a great experience. That’s why we’re here talking to you. We want to share the opportunities with you specifically and the rest of the industry for anyone with the vision to see the possibilities.
Prospective Licensee: So if it was such a great experience why did you stop making phones and tablets? I mean with a sell-through rate of around 10% on the tablet I’m not seeing an advantage here.
HP: It’s based on strategic initiatives.
Prospective Licensee (very confused): Huh?
HP: Leo has seen the future and its software.
Prospective Licensee (even more confused): Okay? But didn’t he say not that long ago that hardware was important?
HP (ignoring comment): So for us to leverage his strategic decision to strategically reposition HP as a software vendor by making this key acquisition for $10 billion of a cloud offering vendor that has astounding upside potential we need to exit future non-core businesses now before they become a drag on future potential earnings.
Prospective Licensee: What?
HP: Look. Everyone knows software is going to drive the industry so we’ve gotten out of the business of building tablets and phones.
Prospective Licensee: And you want me to develop software for what, exactly using WebOS?
HP: Phones and Tablets.
Prospective Licensee: I don’t understand.
HP: That’s part of our strategy. If people can’t understand exactly what we’re doing with WebOS you’ll be able to deliver a market shattering product.
Prospective Licensee: But I want to know what I’m getting into before I sign on the bottom line.
HP: Why? We didn’t when we bought Palm, we were just reacting to Apple and Google. Look everyone wants smartphones. Just sign here and you’ll make a fortune.
Prospective Licensee: I don’t think so.
HP: Trust us. We’ve got your back.
So WebOS is left to forever wander the Earth until someone finally decides that a wooden stake needs to be driven into its undead heart. I just don’t think anyone involved with HP’s Palm division will do it because it’ll be too detrimental to their career.
Better to spin a colossal screw up into a positive while polishing your CV while HP shareholders grab their ankles again.
Showing posts with label Palm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Palm. Show all posts
Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Alas poor WebOS we knew thee not at all.
So HP has pulled up stumps, plans to sell off its bat and ball and go back to Palo Alto.
Leo Apotheker has decided that playing in this space is something that HP just can’t do. HP is also going to look at, maybe, getting rid of their PC business.
So lets get this straight, in 2001 HP bought Compaq, who were having indigestion from their acquisition of Digital. A lot of HP shareholders, including Walter Hewlett objected to the purchase and the deal just squeaked through (and there were noises about a bunch of back room deals being done to get it over the line).
Now, ten years later it looks like leaving Compaq alone would have been the smart thing to do.
HP announced that they would be looking at considering “a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction”.
Good move Leo, looks like PSG was your best performing division and sold more units than your nearest competitor, Dell. Lets chalk another one up for management genius in this decision.
Rewind to 2010. HP buys Palm for $1.2 Billion. Why? Because we’ve got to get into the phone, handheld doohickey marketspace.
Today HP announces 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.”
That sound you hear is a billion dollars being flushed down the toilet.
The fact is that margins are being squeezed in the PC business and HP doesn’t want to compete against guys like Dell, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS and Toshiba. In the tablet/phone business they just couldn’t make it work, but at least were smart enough to figure they should get out sooner rather than later.
This is telling us that when it comes to Mergers and Acquisitions that are made to gain market share or shut down competitors, it rarely ever works so what does this tell us to expect from the Googorola mutant as time goes by?
Have a look at this piece from The Register - HP chief bows to Jobsian cult.
The interesting part of the discussion is at the end of the article where it quotes Leo saying
"Due to market dynamics, significant competition, and a rapidly changing environment – and this week’s news only reiterates the speed and nature of this change – continuing to execute our current device approach in this marketplace is no longer in the best interest of HP and HP shareholders.
It's not. All those shareholders are wishing they'd bought Apple. The tablet effect is quite real, and it's affecting desktops and notebook sales at Apple too. It's driving them up.”
Leo Apotheker has decided that playing in this space is something that HP just can’t do. HP is also going to look at, maybe, getting rid of their PC business.
So lets get this straight, in 2001 HP bought Compaq, who were having indigestion from their acquisition of Digital. A lot of HP shareholders, including Walter Hewlett objected to the purchase and the deal just squeaked through (and there were noises about a bunch of back room deals being done to get it over the line).
Now, ten years later it looks like leaving Compaq alone would have been the smart thing to do.
HP announced that they would be looking at considering “a broad range of options that may include, among others, a full or partial separation of PSG from HP through a spin-off or other transaction”.
Good move Leo, looks like PSG was your best performing division and sold more units than your nearest competitor, Dell. Lets chalk another one up for management genius in this decision.
Rewind to 2010. HP buys Palm for $1.2 Billion. Why? Because we’ve got to get into the phone, handheld doohickey marketspace.
Today HP announces 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.”
That sound you hear is a billion dollars being flushed down the toilet.
The fact is that margins are being squeezed in the PC business and HP doesn’t want to compete against guys like Dell, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS and Toshiba. In the tablet/phone business they just couldn’t make it work, but at least were smart enough to figure they should get out sooner rather than later.
This is telling us that when it comes to Mergers and Acquisitions that are made to gain market share or shut down competitors, it rarely ever works so what does this tell us to expect from the Googorola mutant as time goes by?
Have a look at this piece from The Register - HP chief bows to Jobsian cult.
The interesting part of the discussion is at the end of the article where it quotes Leo saying
"Due to market dynamics, significant competition, and a rapidly changing environment – and this week’s news only reiterates the speed and nature of this change – continuing to execute our current device approach in this marketplace is no longer in the best interest of HP and HP shareholders.
It's not. All those shareholders are wishing they'd bought Apple. The tablet effect is quite real, and it's affecting desktops and notebook sales at Apple too. It's driving them up.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)