Finally there was word from Meg Whitman and the crew at HP that they will not sell the PC division. HP today announced that the Personal Systems Group (PSG) will remain part of the company. It is not clear, yet how HP will deal with HP TouchPads or webOS.
“HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.”
Many are wondering if HP will bring back webOS and the now sold-out at HP TouchPad at bargain prices.
It looks like HP hasn't pulled the webOS development team plug. The HP webOS Developer Blog is still running its webOS hacks contest. By the end of the day on Friday, October 28th, the Developer Relations team will announce the winning app (along with honorable mentions and other entrants).
"If the company wants to remain a major player in the consumer technology business, it will need to have a mobile strategy. WebOS remains a viable one, if the company can actually get its act together," wrote Roger Cheng at CNET.
Fox News' Clayton Morriss says that he's heard the TouchPad hardware team is working on proof-of-concept work" in getting the HP TouchPad to run Windows 8.
The HP TouchPad sold-out and flew off the shelves when it was reduced to $99 for 16 GB and $149 for 32 GB. A second run was sold-out to employees who spent the whole day ordering HP TouchPads with some complaining about the loss of work time.
Currently the HP TouchPad sells for over $200 on eBay. HP closed all of its HP Palm retail stores. Then gave away autographed HP TouchPads in a contest.
HP said that the strategic review involved subject matter experts from across the businesses and functions. The data-driven evaluation revealed the depth of the integration that has occurred across key operations such as supply chain, IT and procurement. It also detailed the significant extent to which PSG contributes to HP’s solutions portfolio and overall brand value. Finally, it also showed that the cost to recreate these in a standalone company outweighed any benefits of separation.