This was the most surprising bit of tech news to come out today.
http://rcpmag.com/articles/2011/08/19/hp-considers-spinning-off-pc-business-kills-webos.aspx (http://rcpmag.com/articles/2011/08/19/hp-considers-spinning-off-pc-business-kills-webos.aspx) <---just one of many similar articles.
tl;dr: HP is killing off its mobile devices after the failure of HP Touchpad's sales and is considering dropping its PC business out the nearest airlock soon.
Tbh, I'm a bit flabbergasted by it all. I can understand after the failure of the TouchPad that they might want to rethink their strategy, but simply kill it after all that $$ and time?....ok. And then to consider dropping their popular laptop/PC machines as well? Alrighty....that's unfortunate, because it means I'm running out of manufacturers to suggest to other people to buy from. While I have not had an HP laptop, I know quite a few who did and have been generally happy with them, so this is...surprising.
King
Yep pretty shocking.
I follow a couple of people who've recently bought a touch pad and they're not impressed to say the least! :(
Quote from: Dangelus on August 18, 2011, 11:49:07 PM
Yep pretty shocking.
I follow a couple of people who've recently bought a touch pad and they're not impressed to say the least! :(
I wouldn't either! Never got the feeling that HP would pull out this early. You know, after buying Palm and putting so much R&D into their stuff, to just pull out now? Wow....But if HP does...makes me wonder about all the other non-iPad variants and their futures...
Safe to say, that the tablet market isn't like the mobile phone market, its a different kind of beast altogether.
King
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-19/hp-s-pc-spinoff-would-reinvent-company-with-return-to-roots.html (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-19/hp-s-pc-spinoff-would-reinvent-company-with-return-to-roots.html)
HP has been looking for a reason for a while to get out of the PC business. Not many surprises here.
Tragic, they haven't been half bad at it either....I guess Dell and the rest will be leaned on more then.
King
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on August 18, 2011, 11:56:24 PM
Tragic, they haven't been half bad at it either....I guess Dell and the rest will be leaned on more then.
King
There's just not much money there anymore, the margins are low and it's cheaper to pawn the work off on overseas factories.
Unless you are huge player with big buying power, the PC market doesn't make you much money these days profit-wise. Heck, just build your own PC! Much more fun that way too. As far as mobile and tablets, well that one is pretty obvious.
HP is trying to go the way of IBM, providing consulting services and large enterprise hardware. I imagine margins are a bit better on 25,000 dollar servers then on 400 dollar PCs.
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on August 18, 2011, 11:43:28 PM
Tbh, I'm a bit flabbergasted by it all.
I'm not. I have said all along that it was going to be next ti impossible for any company to take any meaningful market share from the iPad and as has been pointed out, the low end of the PC market is dead. Dell's recent earning speak clearly to that. Yet the high end PC market, with higher margins and lower volume, has held up., see the Mac desktop and laptop lineup. Joe is spot on, this is the IBM model and it's a good move long term but for now HP is going to be flundering trying to go in a new direction.
Quote from: Bryancd on August 19, 2011, 05:18:32 AM
Quote from: KingIsaacLinksr on August 18, 2011, 11:43:28 PM
Tbh, I'm a bit flabbergasted by it all.
I'm not. I have said all along that it was going to be next ti impossible for any company to take any meaningful market share from the iPad and as has been pointed out, the low end of the PC market is dead. Dell's recent earning speak clearly to that. Yet the high end PC market, with higher margins and lower volume, has held up., see the Mac desktop and laptop lineup. Joe is spot on, this is the IBM model and it's a good move long term but for now HP is going to be flundering trying to go in a new direction.
Well, the iPad VS Touchpad I wasn't too surprised, it was the PCs being thrown away that took me off guard. Although as I said, didn't expect them to just throw their mobile stuff within a couple months....
Oh well. *shrugs*
King
Keep in mind that the story just says they are "considering" dropping their line of PC's - at least at this time.
Quote from: Rico on August 19, 2011, 09:20:49 AM
Keep in mind that the story just says they are "considering" dropping their line of PC's - at least at this time.
No they are going to spin off the PC business in a seperate company as opposed to just stopping all together. It removes that liability from HP's balance sheet.
I have contracts with HP and my contacts there tell me that business will continue as usual well for now...... i sure hope so, i just purchased over 730 off lease Laptop from them today. Its funny but in my personnel life i have been a stock holder and use 100% Apple since 94 not a fan of PC's at all.
Marko
Quote from: MARKO on August 19, 2011, 12:35:49 PM
I have contracts with HP and my contacts there tell me that business will continue as usual well for now...... i sure hope so, i just purchased over 730 off lease Laptop from them today. Its funny but in my personnel life i have been a stock holder and use 100% Apple since 94 not a fan of PC's at all.
Marko
Most likely your contracts would be taken over by whoever they end up selling to.
Speaking of stock prices, HPQ is down 20% today. First RIM, then Dell, now HP. The old gaurd failed to adapt to a changing market place and are taken out and shot, as it should be in the capital markets.
Garbage in .....GARBAGE OUT, Just like with the auto industry .
Marko
Truthfully, as "shocked" as I was by today's news, I've been hoping for years for Laptops to disappear, (or be completely renovated) as I viewed them in a poor (and not undeserved) light. Now, it seems like my wish has somewhat come true. True true, its too early to call them dead, but a new age of technology is upon us and things are going to change.
King
Actually this is more about their desktop business. Desktops in general are a dying bread. I think laptops will continue for years to come, some will be full service machines, others more minimal like the MacAir, and then tablets will be the biggest in terms of portable numbers. But, again as I have said all along, the future of portable technology is here to stay and Apple blew the market wide open. At the end of the day, gamers will be the last holdouts for desktops. Hell, even my office has switched to an all laptop model that when in our office we hook up to dual monitors.
Quote from: Bryancd on August 19, 2011, 03:08:38 PM
Actually this is more about their desktop business. Desktops in general are a dying bread. I think laptops will continue for years to come, some will be full service machines, others more minimal like the MacAir, and then tablets will be the biggest in terms of portable numbers. But, again as I have said all along, the future of portable technology is here to stay and Apple blew the market wide open. At the end of the day, gamers will be the last holdouts for desktops. Hell, even my office has switched to an all laptop model that when in our office we hook up to dual monitors.
Good luck getting gamers off the desktop too. (not that you said we should, just saying) Laptops simply lack the power and flexibility (not to mention the heat problems and battery issues). The mobile devices are nice, but compared to the games you can play on a desktop, simply don't hold a candle to them.
King
Quote from: Bryancd on August 19, 2011, 03:08:38 PM
Actually this is more about their desktop business. Desktops in general are a dying bread. I think laptops will continue for years to come, some will be full service machines, others more minimal like the MacAir, and then tablets will be the biggest in terms of portable numbers. But, again as I have said all along, the future of portable technology is here to stay and Apple blew the market wide open. At the end of the day, gamers will be the last holdouts for desktops. Hell, even my office has switched to an all laptop model that when in our office we hook up to dual monitors.
Sorry, I don't agree. Desktop systems have one thing going for them that portable devices still have a long way to match - security. Any computing device that's portable enough to hide on your person or just put in your pocket or purse is much easier to compromise than a desktop platform. Talk to any big company network admin about the pitfalls of letting everyone hook up all their portable devices to the company network. Also, gamers are not the only users that need the power, screen size, and extra abilities that no portable device can currently match. Engineers, scientists, teachers, etc. use machines that again can't be matched by a phone or tablet. Maybe it will eventually happen. But we are a long way from that. I like my iPad, but it can't match my 3 year old desktop system in what it can do.
No, what I am saying is that laptops, full bore laptops with sufficient security protocols, will make inroads in to the corporate desktop business, not portables. Did you read what I wrote, I never said portable devices n the work place.
Using Wells Fargo as an example, they company saw we could have both a full desktop experience, (dual monitors) which we need for work and also a portable option. We have a docking station in our offices for the laptops. This was a company wide move. Any business which has employees for whom any degree of portability is needed will move in this direction. Jamie's entire industry, market research, is on laptops and has been for years. I am not suggesting portable devices will likely ever fill this roll. But corporations are moving to this model. Your 3 year old desktop can likely be equaled by a current full power laptop. The only downside is screen size and as LCD screen prices continue to fall, the option of having a laptop with a big screen are readily available. Gamers who need to expand memory and graphics cards will be the last hold out.
And as I have said before, your home computing demands are well beyond the average consumers. For them low powered laptops and portables will dominate the market of the future. You can disagree but I will be correct.
I was responding to your comment that desktops are dying breed and giving you reasons why that isn't the case. Bryan, there are huge industrial areas that can't even being to do what they need to do on a laptop. And with regards to your comments about gamers, I actually know many gamers that use high end laptops. But try running Autocad on a typical laptop. Or a high end chemical modeling program or high end graphic program. Business areas are one thing, science and industry are another.
Yeah, I agree there are industrial industries for whom a laptop is a an extra expense they don't need. There will certainly be corporations and industries which will keep that model and the HP spinoff, Dell's, ect. will continue to make them. However, the consumer market is moving at high speed the other way. Add into that the the new consumers coming from China and India, the consumer market is going to eclipse corporate in the future..by a lot. 2.5+ Billion people coming into the 21st century and new found wealth. They will ant laptops and portables. It's coming and it's going to be big, mark my words.
Oh, I certainly don't doubt or disagree that it's coming. I've followed the computer industry probably longer than anyone on this forum. I've fixed, tweaked, upgraded, installed, torn apart, a ton of hardware. I know very well how far it's come in the last 30+ years. And I'm excited to see what's ahead. But, we are not there yet. Not by a long shot. I think you would be shocked at how many companies operate with VERY outdated computer gear because of the expense of upgrading everything. Anyway, we'll see how it all goes.
Quote from: Rico on August 19, 2011, 05:19:35 PM
I think you would be shocked at how many companies operate with VERY outdated computer gear because of the expense of upgrading everything. Anyway, we'll see how it all goes.
Actually you are making my point. When the economy improves and hiring begins, there's a HUGE upgrade cycle coming and dollars to donuts you will see more laptop penetration at that point as well as overall increased PC demand.
"When the economy improves and hiring begins,......"
--- Yeah, that will be nice to see for the many, many people still looking for work.
Quote from: Rico on August 19, 2011, 05:27:52 PM
"When the economy improves and hiring begins,......"
--- Yeah, that will be nice to see for the many, many people still looking for work.
...and it may be even longer off then anyone realizes. :(
I sell tablets, laptops, desktops but we don't deal in Apple products. Just at my store we have around 20 laptops and only about 6 desktops that we sell. There are also about 6 tablets which I don't sell many of. I think the tablet market just isn't suited for my area and customers. As far as HP goes I sell a lot of their models and hope they stay in the laptop business. The area that they will never leave will be there printer business. I think they make great printers and I have a huge line of those. And I have 3 sitting here in my Den/computer room. I even have one I stopped using beacuse the scanner stopped working, but the copier and printing still work, to make room for a new one. Even the desktop I'm using right now is a HP. I can see them dropping the tablet but not much else.
Well it looks like HP have dropped the price of the TouchPad to $99!!!
Some people are in the process of porting Android to it as well. This should make a very tasty Android tablet indeed! :)
Holy cow - $99!?!? That might be worth it just to have another portable web device. How big is the screen on that thing?
Very true!
http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/19/let-the-liquidation-begin-hps-16gb-touchpad-on-sale-for-99/ (http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/19/let-the-liquidation-begin-hps-16gb-touchpad-on-sale-for-99/)
HP TouchPad features and specs
HP webOS
High-speed connectivity(1)
Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060 1.2-GHz processor
9.7-inch diagonal XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 1,024 x 768 resolution display
The option of either 16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage(14)
High-performance browser with full access to the web, including support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta for access to rich, Flash-based web content(1)
Wireless connectivity:
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with WPA, WPA2, WEP, 802.1X authentication(1)
A-GPS (3G only)(10)
Bluetooth® wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, and a 3.5 mm headset/headphone/microphone jack
Internal stereo speakers and Beats Audio
Front-facing 1.3-megapixel webcam for live video calling(11)
Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Gmail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)(6)
Robust messaging support(4)
Light sensor, accelerometer, compass (magnetometer) and gyroscope
Rechargeable 6,300 mAh (typical) battery
Micro-USB (Charging and PC Connect) with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Built-in HP Touchstone technology for easy charging (HP Touchstone for TouchPad sold separately) and HP touch-to-share to share web addresses between TouchPad and compatible webOS phones(5)
Dimensions: 190 mm x 242 mm x 13.7 mm (7.48 inches x 9.53 inches x .54 inches)
Weight: approximately 740 g (1.6 pounds)
Heck, use it as a picture viewer! That's really an awesome deal!!
According to some however, it has a lot less power than the iPad 2 and when they loaded the WebOS software onto an iPad 2, it, the software ran a lot snappier on the iPad 2 than on the Touchpad.
King
Can't seem to find any online for sale anyway.
Quote from: Rico on August 20, 2011, 11:11:37 AM
Can't seem to find any online for sale anyway.
I'm sure eBay has plenty now :P
King
It's a shame but not a surprise (on the mobile side, anyway). I used PalmOS for years before jumping via WinMo to iOS.
WebOS tempted me to give it a go but once Android was out and running, this result was really pretty inevitable.
After they marked down those hp touch pads over the weekend at work they didn't last an hour. I didn't have very many but they were gone very quickly.
Just picked up two 32 gig touch pads for me an my father. less than 300 for both with my discounts.
where did you find them Chris?
Quote from: moyer777 on August 26, 2011, 04:48:19 PM
where did you find them Chris?
Staples. I do some tech work there and as soon as they came in, I was called to buy them if I wanted them.
I think that this is actually going to be a good thing for the owners. You now have a quarter million people looking for new apps. I'm thinking that there is going to be a surge in apps for the touchpad
I didn't know they were going to get any more of them
Quote from: X on August 26, 2011, 05:27:41 PM
I think that this is actually going to be a good thing for the owners. You now have a quarter million people looking for new apps. I'm thinking that there is going to be a surge in apps for the touchpad
Don't hold your breath. There's very little incentive for a market that can't grow.
Quote from: Bryancd on August 26, 2011, 05:39:19 PM
Quote from: X on August 26, 2011, 05:27:41 PM
I think that this is actually going to be a good thing for the owners. You now have a quarter million people looking for new apps. I'm thinking that there is going to be a surge in apps for the touchpad
Don't hold your breath. There's very little incentive for a market that can't grow.
What he said. Your more likely to lose customers since HP is dropping support and it will be a static product for the rest of its life. You'd have a better chance developing for iOS/Droid to make your $$ back for development.
King
I thought of buying one last Saturday when our store dropped the 32gig model down to $149 but I just couldn't convince myself it was a worthwhile move. I like the performance of the HP but no future support kind of put me off. Guess I should have grabbed one while I had the chance because we sold all eight units we had in stock in about 30 minutes of the doors opening.
Kevin
HP released a statement that they will continue to support the product and webOS, but they just won't make the devices personally.
Doesn't change a lot though, you would have to find someone interested in developing hardware for it and considering how poorly the HP touchpad did...
Not that anything is for certain, but the chances just aren't great. Droid is the hot OS right now for manufacturers and they seem to be doing well.
King
Probably to just fulfill some orders and use up parts, but...
Ahead of the Bell: HP restarts tablet production
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PF2SVO0.htm (http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PF2SVO0.htm)
yeah, everyone was scratching thier heads yesterday when this hit the news wires.
It is a really strange turn of events....
Well, it makes sense when you read the analysis in that Business Week piece. They have the facility, the components, and the ability to build out their remaining stock. So they will likely look to dump these on the market to be further supportive to the OS.
They also have their care plan that repairs or replaces your touchpad if it breaks in the time frame. Maybe that's what this is about ... or maybe the firesale was to put the unit into many hands and then make money off the OS side?
Quote from: X on September 01, 2011, 09:50:28 AM
They also have their care plan that repairs or replaces your touchpad if it breaks in the time frame. Maybe that's what this is about ... or maybe the firesale was to put the unit into many hands and then make money off the OS side?
All of the above.
What the hell? Why did the words make money turn into a link? Is this the board or to I have an issue with my PC?
It's a bot that when you click it automatically diverts you to an E-Trade account where you surreptitiously bought 100 shares of HP stock... :)
Quote from: Bryancd on September 01, 2011, 09:55:12 AM
It's a bot that when you click it automatically diverts you to an E-Trade account where you surreptitiously bought 100 shares of HP stock... :)
And then routed the profits to my off-shore bank account! :) Thanks X!!!
Quote from: QuadShot on September 01, 2011, 09:59:28 AM
Quote from: Bryancd on September 01, 2011, 09:55:12 AM
It's a bot that when you click it automatically diverts you to an E-Trade account where you surreptitiously bought 100 shares of HP stock... :)
And then routed the profits to my off-shore bank account! :) Thanks X!!!
Then I hack Al's off-shore bank accounts with a few other people's AND RULE THE WORLD MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
;)
King
I think Android and/or Amazon really needs to take notice of this. A lower priced tablet (than the iPad) can sell well. If you have to take a little hit on hardware profit, find another way to generate income to balance it out (apps, ads, etc.). To try and sell tablets at around the same price as the iPad is asking for trouble.
Quote from: Rico on September 01, 2011, 02:23:53 PM
I think Android and/or Amazon really needs to take notice of this. A lower priced tablet (than the iPad) can sell well. If you have to take a little hit on hardware profit, find another way to generate income to balance it out (apps, ads, etc.). To try and sell tablets at around the same price as the iPad is asking for trouble.
Basically the games console model. :)
I find it funny that we're saying they should basically sell it even lower. Even the iPad is just barely making a profit. And compared to most new technologies, its already cheap and we're saying it should be even cheaper. :P
King
Tim - why do you think the iPad is barely making a profit?!? They are making good money off the hardware and a TON of money off every app sold.
http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/isuppli-ipad-cost/ (http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/isuppli-ipad-cost/)
Quote from: Rico on September 01, 2011, 02:33:51 PM
Tim - why do you think the iPad is barely making a profit?!? They are making good money off the hardware and a TON of money off every app sold.
http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/isuppli-ipad-cost/ (http://mashable.com/2010/04/07/isuppli-ipad-cost/)
I was strictly talking from the hardware side, not the iTunes area, which I know they are making a killing off of iTunes thanks to the iPad. The only other company right now that can compete with iTunes is Amazon and their entire store + cloud. That's the downside to Droid, there isn't much of an "iTunes" store for them.
Btw, that article is talking about the iPad 1, I'm sure the iPad 2 is a little more expensive due to its slimmer form and I also heard a different, more expensive figure for the iPad so maybe I'm wrong.
King
Tim - they are still making a nice profit off the hardware. A LOT more than an average laptop or PC maker makes off their hardware. And also a lot more than many makers of any electronic device makes percentage wise off their gear.
Oops....
http://www.forbes.com/sites/briancaulfield/2011/09/08/customers-complain-hps-undead-99-touchpad-developing-cracks/ (http://www.forbes.com/sites/briancaulfield/2011/09/08/customers-complain-hps-undead-99-touchpad-developing-cracks/)
Not so great news if you bought an HP Touchpad: tl;dr: it might develop cracks.
King
Another shot at a cheap Touchpad coming up this weekend.
The HP TouchPad flew off shelves when the company slashed the base price of the tablet from $400 to $99. The company promised that there would be a final run of the tablet, but TechCrunch is reporting that the company will be selling its 16GB and 32 GB models at firesale prices on its eBay store this Sunday. The sale is set to start at 7 p.m. Eastern time, 6 p.m., Central.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/report-hps-99-touchpad-to-return-again-in-hp-ebay-store/2011/12/08/gIQAqprHfO_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/report-hps-99-touchpad-to-return-again-in-hp-ebay-store/2011/12/08/gIQAqprHfO_story.html)
Quote from: Rico on September 01, 2011, 03:08:20 PM
Tim - they are still making a nice profit off the hardware. A LOT more than an average laptop or PC maker makes off their hardware. And also a lot more than many makers of any electronic device makes percentage wise off their gear.
Yeah, the margins on the iPad are very healthy, Tim. Amazon is taking a lose on the Fire, however, but that's their business model.
I might have to pick one up just as a backup. Great value even if the functionality isn't all there.