HP kills TouchPad, looks to exit PC business

[IAteYourMother]

Just a correction -- HP was already well established in the PC market prior to their merger with Compaq. The merger was seen as an attempt to combine resources and overcome Dell, which at the time was the largest PC vendor.

<===== former Compaq employee

True, but the merger was a massive undertaking that shifted the company's focus more toward PCs.

http://www.economist.com/node/954746

"Mr Hewlett maintains that it should stick to its knitting—that is, areas in which it has a clear technological lead.[...] Instead, he thinks HP should focus on what it does well—in particular, on its highly profitable printing and imaging business. [...] In contrast, Ms Fiorina sees greater scale in PCs, and a greater emphasis on services, as the best way to respond to commoditisation. Teaming up with Compaq, she insists, will enable HP to exploit economies of scale in PCs, and thus to compete more effectively with Dell, the nimblest computer maker. "

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Adapt or perish. They have not adapted to the blade/VMware environment. I was along for a big executive briefing for a 10 mil account and all HP wanted to talk about is how great their fans and power management are. "look, we'll give you a green data center!"

FAIL. Touching an HP blade enclosure is like major surgery just to update a single firmware on all the damn pieces involved.

I know how it's going to play out, I'm watching with my own eyes how it's going to play out. They're behind the ball/curve in this aspect. They don't see the data center convergence happening all around them. They've fallen to the IBM mentality and will get eaten up. Cisco also had that going on but they're starting to change radically.

Adapt to your customers/market or perish.

I think Leo wants to turn them into a software and services company and doesn't care about the hardware. Big mistake IMO. I heard from my friend that the rumored purchase of Autonomy has happened. Maybe their (Autonomy's) products will now be remotely affordable.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

True, but the merger was a massive undertaking that shifted the company's focus more toward PCs.

http://www.economist.com/node/954746

"Mr Hewlett maintains that it should stick to its knitting—that is, areas in which it has a clear technological lead.[...] Instead, he thinks HP should focus on what it does well—in particular, on its highly profitable printing and imaging business. [...] In contrast, Ms Fiorina sees greater scale in PCs, and a greater emphasis on services, as the best way to respond to commoditisation. Teaming up with Compaq, she insists, will enable HP to exploit economies of scale in PCs, and thus to compete more effectively with Dell, the nimblest computer maker. "

It was. Capellas and Fiorina did it to knock Dell off the #1 perch. It was a rough integration (I left Compaq before the purchase was finalized) and IMO, Hurd had them going in the right direction and HP was foolish to get rid of him even though you do have to give them (the board) credit for sticking to their corporate ethics policies. Of course, they followed up by picking Leo and that isn't good.

 

[Red Squirrel]

lmao and my company recently switched to HP. Guess they'll have to go back to Dell. Dell is better anyway.

 

[spidey07]

I think Leo wants to turn them into a software and services company and doesn't care about the hardware. Big mistake IMO. I heard from my friend that the rumored purchase of Autonomy has happened. Maybe their (Autonomy's) products will now be remotely affordable.

LOL! "Let's follow in IBM's footsteps!"

Meanwhile, IBM is doing some innovative stuff in the data center and adapting and focusing on their core competency - high end computing. What company would really be looking at HP for midframe stuff right now?

HP is trying to follow, not lead. You're right, big mistake.

If they want to become a services company then that would explain why their blade enclosures suck so badly. You need an HP guy just to maintain it. Eitherway, fail decision all around. They're too siloed and can't adapt.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

HP is trying to follow, not lead. You're right, big mistake.

Without a strong leader like Hurd, they are screwed. Look at this whole Touchpad debacle. You release a product 2 months ago and you already abandon it? Seriously? It was an incredibly weak and half-hearted attempt to penetrate that market. Yes, it was probably a bad idea to try to release a tablet with your own OS on it but what message does it send when you surrender so quickly?

I remember a bunch of datacenter initiatives under Hurd. What happened to those? I've been out of that environment for awhile now but I get the impression that they are dead under the current regime. Idiots. Then they get the bright idea to go buy Autonomy. I really want to see what happens there because we looked at some of their (Autonomy's) products and while they were incredibly sophisticated and cool, they were incredibly expensive. Six figures to play ball on the low-end, IIRC -- for software.

 

[spidey07]

Without a strong leader like Hurd, they are screwed. Look at this whole Touchpad debacle. You release a product 2 months ago and you already abandon it? Seriously? It was an incredibly weak and half-hearted attempt to penetrate that market. Yes, it was probably a bad idea to try to release a tablet with your own OS on it but what message does it send when you surrender so quickly?

I remember a bunch of datacenter initiatives under Hurd. What happened to those? I've been out of that environment for awhile now but I get the impression that they are dead under the current regime. Idiots. Then they get the bright idea to go buy Autonomy. I really want to see what happens there because we looked at some of their (Autonomy's) products and while they were incredibly sophisticated and cool, they were incredibly expensive. Six figures to play ball on the low-end, IIRC -- for software.

They're done IMHO. UX is stuck in the early 90s. Server guys not realizing what is happening in the datacenter. HP is trying to follow SUN and IBM, they are way behind the times and demands of a typical customer at this level.

Really? Who want's a midrange platform that is stuck in the 90s from an OS and high availability standpoint and be pigeon holed into that mindset? But that is what they are pushing.

It's SUN all over again if they want to go that route. HP is losing the data center game, hell they aren't even playing at this point.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Will this mean more jobs shipped to China is everything by HP made in China anyway?

I remember IBM->Lenovo.

 

[Nintendesert]

Oo I'm gonna pick up one of those pads for super cheap now!

 

[shortylickens]

FUCK!

Was gonna buy mom an HP this christmas.

 

[sportage]

You all wouldn&#8217;t think this has something to do with APPLE just buying and owning the world, would you?

So HP is dumping their attempt to compete with apple?
And dumping their 3rd party shareware bloated pc efforts?

Maybe someone at HP bought a Mac and realized the writing on the wall...

 

[Fox5]

This is likely a result of the switch in CEOs. WebOS everywhere was probably a vision the previous CEO supported, while the current one probably wanted to see it die from day 1, and thus never put any real effort behind it.

CEOs are all about maximizing "shareholder value" and "increasing gross margins". Cutting off the minimally profitable (but extremely sizable) portion of your business is a way to guarantee yourself all those bonuses guaranteed to you if certain profit goals are met...and cannibalize the company in the mean time.

HP's computers gave it brand awareness and market presence, I bet the upsell to HP servers was much easier after a company's switched their computers to HP.

 

[spidey07]

You all wouldn’t think this has something to do with APPLE just buying and owning the world, would you?

So HP is dumping their attempt to compete with apple?
And dumping their 3rd party shareware bloated pc efforts?

Maybe someone at HP bought a Mac and realized the writing on the wall...

Walk into a data center and point out the apple. Go find it. Be bold and build it.

 

[lxskllr]

I'll take a crappy tablet if it's cheap enough. Woot carried them once before. Time to keep an eye on them, especially around xmas.

 

[Ricochet]

If only they have enough electrical engineers.

 

[Locut0s]

I'll take a crappy tablet if it's cheap enough. Woot carried them once before. Time to keep an eye on them, especially around xmas.

Are you sure? Crappy tablets can get really crappy. 🙂 We sold the velocity microCRUZ at NCIX, back when I worked there, they were really crappy. We were trying to clear them out at about 160 or so. I sold a few but couldn't imagine using one of the myself.

 

[Tristicus]

So could it be hacked and Android put on it? :awe:

 

[gevorg]

Will they release WebOS source code? It can be a true mobile open source OS, unlike wannabe Android.

 

[foghorn67]

Will they release WebOS source code? It can be a true mobile open source OS, unlike wannabe Android.

huh? Clarify please.

 

[lxskllr]

So could it be hacked and Android put on it? :awe:

I'm guessing yes. I'm currently reading instructions on putting Ubuntu on it, and that's a tougher fit than Android.


Edit:

Are you sure? Crappy tablets can get really crappy. 🙂 We sold the velocity microCRUZ at NCIX, back when I worked there, they were really crappy. We were trying to clear them out at about 160 or so. I sold a few but couldn't imagine using one of the myself.

Key words are "cheap enough" :^D

I'm a lot more patient with mobile devices than I am with desktops. I'll accept performance/function deficiencies in exchange for low price, and portability.

 

[gevorg]

huh? Clarify please.

No community coding, you cannot modify kernels in Android, latest Honeycomb is closed source, etc. More here:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/is-android-open/

 

[foghorn67]

No community coding, you cannot modify kernels in Android, latest Honeycomb is closed source, etc. More here:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/is-android-open/

Kernels are up to the manufacturer. Picking out Honeycomb is convenient for you, huh? HTC releases their kernels after time, Motorola not so much.
Samsung embraced community development, and will ramp that up big time. See about them snagging the Cyanogen founder.
We will see when Android ends the phone/tablet schism. Then you can bitch and moan.

 

[lxskllr]

No community coding, you cannot modify kernels in Android, latest Honeycomb is closed source, etc. More here:

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/is-android-open/

That's BS. Open source means you can get the source code, nothing more. Community contributions are nice, but not essential to it being open.

 

[gevorg]

Did you guys even read the article? For each their own I guess, will get back to this once Google "opens" Honeycomb (if ever).

 

[lxskllr]

Did you guys even read the article? For each their own I guess, will get back to this once Google "opens" Honeycomb (if ever).

Last I read(I don't follow Android closely), Honeycomb wasn't finished, so they didn't want to release the code. Google has a lot invested in the Android name, and a bunch of Chinese manufacturers releasing craptastic half-baked Android tablets won't help the name any. Ideal? no, but I understand their reasoning, and as long as the code gets released, that's good enough for me.