The Demise of Hewlett-Packard’s Touchpad
Hewlett-Packard, Inc., founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939, is one of the most innovative hardware developers that cater to all types of consumers (“HP History,”n.d.). In a move to further expand their products and services, Hewlett-Packard, or HP, released the Touchpad, which they touted to be the one to beat Apple’s iPad. Sales, however, were dismal. In a little over a month, the price dropped and HP announced that it would discontinue the Touchpad (Woyke, 2011).
This decision by HP is hedged on two assumptions. The first is that the operating system webOS cannot gain a foothold in a market dominated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. This is based on poor consumer reception of not only the Touchpad but also of other webOS powered products like Veer and Pre3 (McGrath, 2011).
This assumption can be countered. The market is searching for a new option and webOS, as one of the easiest software to use, seemed to be the best candidate (Woyke, 2011). Software developers could easily create applications for webOS; there is a huge possibility that it could support applications initially designed for other operating systems (Menta, 2011).
The second assumption is that the market’s resistance to the Touchpad is irreversible and due to the product alone. They based this assumption on the units sold and the unpleasant product reviews that compared it to iPad (McGrath, 2011).
Current events rendered this assumption incorrect. When the price of the Touchpad was slashed, sales went up. Now, the Touchpad is second only to the iPad in terms of number of units sold (Menta, 2011). At the same price as an iPad, consumers are not willing to buy a tablet that is heavier and has less content. They would, however, buy it at a lower price.
The validity of these assumptions can be tested in two ways. The first is to gather a focus group. Instead of relying just on product reviews, ask consumers what they want in a tablet. The second is to simply give the product time. Software developers were already working on mobile application for webOS (Woyke, 2011). Given enough time, the problem with applications can be addressed.
If faced with the same situation in the future, as a decision-maker, I would check on the validity of these assumptions first and not make as quick a decision as HP has.
Reference List
HP History.Hewlett-Packard Website. Retrieved from http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-
information/about-hp/history/history.html
McGrath, D. (2011). HP to spin out PCs, drop webOS products. Retrieved from http://www.
eetimes.com/electronics-news/4218903/HP-to-spin-out-PCs--drop-webOS
Menta, R. (2011). HP Touchpad: why HP should reverse and build Touchpad 2. Retrieved from
http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2011/HP-touchpad.html
Woyke, E. (2011). Mobile ecosystems in flux as HP exits phone, tablet business. Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethwoyke/2011/08/18/mobile-ecosystems-in-flux-as-hp-exits-phone-tablet-business/2/
