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Is it time for HP to pull out of the consumer mobile market?

by Scott Bicheno on 17 August 2011, 11:56

Tags: Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ)

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Battling against the odds

The next major version of the flagship HP/Palm smartphone - the Pre 3 - has gone on sale on the Palm Store for £299 SIM-free. A competitive price and a big moment for HP, you'd think, but we have seen no evidence of any PR activity whatsoever around the launch.

This is odd. When the Pre 2 was launched back in October there was at least the standard ‘we're so excited' commentary from HP, but nothing this time. HP has also completed its move from TI to Qualcomm by putting the MSM8x55 into the Pre 3. This isn't the best Snapdragon it could have chosen, but presumably contributes to the competitive price. Surely this is all worth troubling the tech press about.

Furthermore, despite already having a web page on the Pre 3, Orange told handset site Recombu that it won't be stocking the phone after all. We're not aware of any mobile operators supporting the Pre 3 right now.

At the same time All Things D reports that HP is struggling to sell the TouchPad tablet on the other side of the pond, despite having cut its price by $100 (a concession not extended to the UK). Apparently tech retail giant Best Buy has ordered 270,000 TouchPads, but has managed to sell 25,000, at most, since the launch last month.

This is causing strains in the relationship between the two companies, apparently, with Best Buy asking HP to take a bunch of them back, and HP telling them to be patient. It seems that other US retailers are relating similar experiences.

In our reflections on the Googorola deal yesterday we concluded it's probably only possible for three mobile platforms to succeed in the mass-market. Android and iOS already have their places assured, and the front-runner for the bronze is Microsoft's WP7. Despite the many obituaries already being written RIM is not dead, so that puts webOS firmly in fifth.

HP is in a Catch 22 position. With so few customers and such large and successful competitors it's hard for HP to convince developers to invest their time in webOS, and is having incentivise them just to give it a go. And with relatively few apps it's hard for HP to convince end-users to go for its products rather than those using iOS or Android.

The reasons behind HP buying Palm - for a tenth of what Google is paying for Motorola - were sound. We're now seeing that all the power lies in the hands of the platform-owner, and HP wanted to be able control its own fate in mobile. But it may be time for HP to admit that it lacks the momentum or resources to compete with the big four in the mass-market, and instead focus its efforts instead on more niche enterprise solutions.

Pulling out of the consumer market would also allow HP to license webOS to third parties such as Samsung and HTC - who must be feeling rather threatened by the Googorola deal - without competing with them itself.

 



HEXUS Forums :: 22 Comments

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If no operator is supporting this device then there is little point in it existing in this over crowded market.
It would be a real shame as many people are very enthusiastic about WebOS. It just seems that Palm and now HP just haven't quite been able to pull it off.
mrochester
It would be a real shame as many people are very enthusiastic about WebOS. It just seems that Palm and now HP just haven't quite been able to pull it off.
Yes, from what I've seen WebOS is a real nice OS - although I had a play with a TouchPad in Staples and wasn't that impressed - seemed a little sluggish compared to iPad2 and various Android tablets I've tried/owned.
Pulling out of the consumer market would also allow HP to license webOS to third parties such as Samsung and HTC - who must be feeling rather threatened by the Googorola deal - without competing with them itself.
Not wanting to be a party-pooper, but I don't think HP are targeting the smartphone-owner-in-the-street with Pre3, instead it's being positioned as a business phone. If you then follow up with the efforts that HP are putting into getting apps for the WebOS platform, then maybe this is a sensible approach. Remember that business phone users typically have different requirements to a normal smartphone user - so don't think of the Pre 3 as an iPhone competitor, more slanted against RIM/Blackberry.

Also not sure that Samsung/HTC would be that keen to launch into WebOS - after all Samsung has Bada (bing?) and HTC seemed pretty keen on Win7Phone.

(Disclaimer: although I work for HP, I'm not associated with the Palm division, and so the opinions expressed above are my own)
Brewster0101
If no operator is supporting this device then there is little point in it existing in this over crowded market.

http://help.orange.co.uk/orangeuk/support/personal/615671

Expect actual availability real soon now.
crossy
…after all Samsung has Bada (bing?) and HTC seemed pretty keen on Win7Phone.

The strip club from The Sopranos? :p