# HP kills TouchPad, looks to exit PC business



## win2kpro (Jul 19, 2005)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hewlett Packard is taking a hatchet to its business and doing some radical restructuring.

The company said Thursday that it is looking to spin off its industry-leading but struggling personal computer business. HP also killed off the TouchPad tablet it launched less than two months ago, and its webOS smartphone line. The move essentially leaves for dead the webOS software HP got by acquiring Palm last year.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/18/technology/hp_pc_spinoff/index.htm?hpt=hp_t2


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## ekim68 (Jul 8, 2003)

I think this is a good move for them. They've been moving in that direction and tried with the tablet thing, but they can't compete with Apple...Sounds like their gonna give IBM a run for the hardware server business...


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

ekim68 said:


> I think this is a good move for them. They've been moving in that direction and tried with the tablet thing, but they can't compete with Apple...Sounds like their gonna give IBM a run for the hardware server business...


Agreed.

I'll miss their killer deals on PCs, though.


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## win2kpro (Jul 19, 2005)

This should also have a negative affect on AMD. HP/Compaq was AMD's largest customer.


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## Wino (Dec 1, 2001)

I have visions of Michael Dell dancing a jig in his office.


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## Squashman (Apr 4, 2003)

I have always bought HP for the superior customer service and they also manufactured a great product. Just about everyone in my family uses HP laptops. 

I will miss webOS if it dies as well. When it was released it truly was a far superior mobile platform but they were just too late to the game. I think it is down to iOS and Android now. I think eventually MS will realize that they can't throw a ton of money at the phone business like they did with all their other products and become #1.


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## Firebreather (Jul 8, 2011)

How's that going to affect those who already have HP/Compaq product?


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Firebreather said:


> How's that going to affect those who already have HP/Compaq product?


Probably won't affect most of them at in any real way, I'm sure HP will honor their warranties and service agreements. And "out of warranty" service is not generally done by HP but by local PC service centers/PC shops. Also if this happens then it won't happen overnight, it'll be phased out. The owners of HP mobile devices will be the worst off as they won't get updates or new apps so those who purchased those devices will be stuck with a platform with little or no growth until it comes time for those devices to be replaced, which for many users of those devices is pretty quick anyway.


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## Firebreather (Jul 8, 2011)

Thanks for your clarification!!!



Triple6 said:


> The owners of HP mobile devices will be the worst off as they won't get updates or new apps so those who purchased those devices will be stuck with a platform with little or no growth until it comes time for those devices to be replaced, which for many users of those devices is pretty quick anyway.


A friend of mine has an HP laptop with something called HP support assistant. 
Does that mean she won't be able to upgrade the laptop or the assistant or both?

Even I have a Compaq PC and HP printer.... How will we know if they are ready to replace them?

Thanks again!


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Why would HP replace them? You can choose to replace them at any time, as you see fit. Their products will not stop working if the leave the PC business and the majority of people do not go to HP for support or parts. If you want, or can upgrade the HP hardware you have you can do so from any online or local retailer using any tech or do it yourself.

HP Support Assistant is one of those HP preinstalled applications that most users either never use, disable, or uninstall, Its to assist in troubleshooting and updating HP software, it will probably work to get updates via HP Update for a certain time after HP exits the business, and I'm sure they'll keep their downloads and support articles on their website for an even longer period. 

OR another computer will buy those assets from them and take over where HP left off. That happened when IBM sold off their lines to Lenovo; Lenovo now supports legacy IBM products in addition to their current products.


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## Firebreather (Jul 8, 2011)

Triple6 said:


> Why would HP replace them? You can choose to replace them at any time, as you see fit. Their products will not stop working if the leave the PC business and the majority of people do not go to HP for support or parts. If you want, or can upgrade the HP hardware you have you can do so from any online or local retailer using any tech or do it yourself.
> 
> HP Support Assistant is one of those HP preinstalled applications that most users either never use, disable, or uninstall, Its to assist in troubleshooting and updating HP software, it will probably work to get updates via HP Update for a certain time after HP exits the business, and I'm sure they'll keep their downloads and support articles on their website for an even longer period.
> 
> OR another computer will buy those assets from them and take over where HP left off. That happened when IBM sold off their lines to Lenovo; Lenovo now supports legacy IBM products in addition to their current products.


Thanks a ton!!!! 
I really got freaked out when you said "those who purchased those devices will be stuck with a platform with little or no growth until it comes time for those devices to be replaced" !!! 
And I'm not going to replace them (not in recent future, at least).....they are working absolutely fine!  
Moreover, who wants to spend when there is an option not to?


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Firebreather said:


> Thanks a ton!!!!
> I really got freaked out when you said "those who purchased those devices will be stuck with a platform with little or no growth until it comes time for those devices to be replaced" !!!


That would be for Touchpad and other WebOS devices. However updates and new apps are not required for those devices to keep functioning either, just no new updates, improvements, or applications...unless HP decides to continue software support for those as well or other if developers don't abandon it. WebOS itself hasn't been shelved yet.


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## Firebreather (Jul 8, 2011)

Thanks for the clarification


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## gwashington (Jul 2, 2007)

well Intel had a nice run for a while. Maybe the Core I9s or 12s will be the finish line . Or they could go into the server-side business. Just a random vent.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Why would this be Intel's demise? This won't really affect Intel in the long run, more than enough OEM builders to take up the lost sales from HP.


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## jiml8 (Jul 3, 2005)

I wonder what they'll do with their printer business. Excellent printers...always have been...


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## gwashington (Jul 2, 2007)

Would they look for anykind of buyout from anywhere? I hope no one lose their job in the end.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Who knows what they'll do in the end, I'm sure if they can find profit they'll do it.


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## win2kpro (Jul 19, 2005)

gwashington said:


> Would they look for anykind of buyout from anywhere? I hope no one lose their job in the end.


With PC sales so slow I doubt that HP would be a good take over candidate by any other of the large OEM's. Back around 2000 there were a lot of OEM PC manufacturers because the PC market was rapidly expanding. With HP now pulling out the only OEM's left with a significant maket share will be the Acer Group (Acer, Gateway, eMachines and Packard-Bell) and Dell.

I don't believe it will have much of an impact on the U.S. job market. When you look at a HP/Compaq machine almost everything in the tower is manufactured in Taiwan or China (as it is with all other OEM's), most of HP's assembly was done in Mexico and their tech support is in India.

I went to the HP site a couple of months ago to look up the specs on a machine and the 1st thing that popped up at the HP site was the attached pic.


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## win2kpro (Jul 19, 2005)

Wino said:


> I have visions of Michael Dell dancing a jig in his office.


I applaud Michael Dell. MS requires large OEM's to go to the latest operating system when it is RTM'd. When Vista was released Dell was getting calls from people wanting to purchase machines, but refused to purchase them with Vista. Michael Dell got fed up with losing sales and bucked MS by offering some of his machines with XP. The rest of the large OEM's (MS sheep) were only shipping Vista.

Dell was the only large OEM to tell almighty MS where they could stick Vista. I liked Dell standing up to MS and not be forced to sell something his customers did not want.


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## SevenUp132 (Oct 22, 2010)

win2kpro said:


> Dell was the only large OEM to tell almighty MS where they could stick Vista. I liked Dell standing up to MS and not be forced to sell something his customers did not want.


HP did too, all their pcs was sold with a downgrade to xp option even if you buyed them with vista preinstalled. at least with the business/professional desktop and laptop (i dont know for their low end cheap models like pavillion) we only sell professional at my office! even W7 was downgradeable to xp till M$ put an end to xp sales.

its a shame they wants to stop pc business cause we sell lots of hp desktop and workstation here and its good quality and they have good warranty service! acer service and warranty suck, as well is dell and gateaway! i greatly prefer the quality over the price, HP pcs are maybe more expensive but they really worth the price!


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## Sharma7 (Dec 13, 2010)

I guess all we have to remember HP for is their printers (HP Printers=ROCK, I have an AIO printer with fax, and I got it for around $50, so it was a good price).
R.I.P.
HP Computers


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