This might be a crazy theory but Beatweek Magazine has a story that suggests HP actually wants the TouchPad to fail commercially. The argument is that HP had to build the tablet after their acquisition of Palm and its webOS, but the top brass would rather see it just go away and be discontinued.
This is an interesting read even if you disagree with the underlying theory. Some of the moves that HP has made to date with webOS have been sketchy at best. At a time when everyone else is coming out with top quality phones, with bigger screens, HP launches the Veer? What about the Pre 3? Where is it? I'm not saying I agree with the article, but it is definitely and interesting take on a very bizarre situation.
"The management at Hewlett Packard has changed since the days of Carly Fiorina’s reign of error, but the philosophy at the company appears to be intact: HP is a printer company. Everything else is a hand-wave intended to comfort shareholders into believing that the company can become something bigger, something more meaningful.
...there never was room in the market for the TouchPad. But its impending failure doesn’t matter in HP’s eyes; it launched a foray into the tablet market, expanded upon its webOS investment, and brought it to a close before the lawyers could get involved. It might not count as a victory for any other company out there. But when your company’s mission statement is written on mirrors using smoke, suffice it to say that HP is probably calling this a good day."
...there never was room in the market for the TouchPad. But its impending failure doesn’t matter in HP’s eyes; it launched a foray into the tablet market, expanded upon its webOS investment, and brought it to a close before the lawyers could get involved. It might not count as a victory for any other company out there. But when your company’s mission statement is written on mirrors using smoke, suffice it to say that HP is probably calling this a good day."
This is an interesting read even if you disagree with the underlying theory. Some of the moves that HP has made to date with webOS have been sketchy at best. At a time when everyone else is coming out with top quality phones, with bigger screens, HP launches the Veer? What about the Pre 3? Where is it? I'm not saying I agree with the article, but it is definitely and interesting take on a very bizarre situation.
