Report: HP To Kill webOS in November

On October 4, failed California Gubernatorial Candidate and newly installed Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman said that she would 'decide the fate' of the company's PC division before month's end. At that time, HP's original plan to sell the division had already been scaled back to a spin-off and as October draws to a close, it appears that HP intends to spare PC division after all. Not all is well for the beleaguered department; the Guardian reported Friday that though HP will no longer jettison PC, they're going to kill webOS.

WebOS, acquired in 2010 when HP purchased Palm for 1.2 billion, is the operating system behind the TouchPad tablet. TouchPad's notorious failure was a factor in the company's flirtation with getting rid of their PC division, and it was unlikely to survive regardless of that decision. Attempts to attract interested buyers - Amazon was rumored to have been courted - failed, all but sealing webOS' fate. One HP employee told the Guardian earlier that "There's a 95% chance we all get laid off between now and November." Still, the end of webOS means the loss of up to 500 jobs and the scary prospect of finding work in a tech industry battered by the worst recession since the 1930s.

  • vaughn2k
    1.2 Billion US Dollars down the drain... tsk,tsk,tsk. HP should have made jobs with that money, than throw it away... insane...
    Reply
  • velocityg4
    Why kill off Web OS completely? Just put it up for public auction and the highest bidder takes it. Getting a couple million is better than nothing.
    Reply
  • And this is how the best mobile OS ends up :(
    Reply
  • Jung
    Old rumor already refuted by HP.
    Reply
  • offerings12
    The best Mobile OS getting shat upon by dumb idiots who don't know what they have....
    Reply
  • acidic
    fast forward to around 4:40 for the answer

    http://www.businessinsider.com/hp-says-it-will-not-shut-down-webos-2011-10?op=1
    Reply
  • phatboe
    HP board of directors = stupid stupid stupid
    Reply
  • GreaseMonkey_62
    False rumor, but the way HP has been acting it's very believable.
    Reply
  • Temp_Username
    Not a credible story. HP has since disclaimed it. Get on the ball please, a similar false story was released last week.
    Reply
  • GreaseMonkey_62
    9321815 said:
    fast forward to around 4:40 for the answer

    http://www.businessinsider.com/hp-says-it-will-not-shut-down-webos-2011-10?op=1
    Thanks for link. It's good to know they are not being entirely stupid. I have a feeling that we'll see the TouchPad come back.
    Reply