WebOS is dead.
I wondered what HP spinning off its hardware division would mean for webOS and I tried to find a bit of optimism. Well, HP said it is killing its TouchPad and other webOS devices.
In the press release where it announced that it is negotiating to buy the Autonomy company, it slipped in this little gem:
In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of webOS software going forward.
Yep, so it looks like the $1.2 billion HP shelled out for Palm was all for nothing right now, as the TouchPad was a flop, the Veer hasn’t been a big hit and the Pre 3 still hasn’t hit the market. HP is saying that webOS isn’t dead because it will “optimize the value” of it later but it really seems like it’s on life support.
We’ve lost an independent Motorola this week and now nearly all traces of Palm are gone too. Wow.
