This week (at least when this was written), on 18 August, HP killed webOS,  as well as the the Pre phones and the Touchpad tablet that ran on them.  The question is there anything we can learn from this situation?

First- what is/was webOS.  It was the operating system designed by the Palm folks that had a fantastic user interface, true touch friendly navigation, iTunes support, and multitasking capabilities still not met on another portable platform.  If you believe (as most do) that the cloud is the future of computing, PalmOS (webOS) was one of the best choices.

Then, why would it fail?  Because the hardware was clunky. The Pre had a slick slide out QWERTY keyboard, but the keys were sticky and a little too close together for simple use.  But, it predated the Android and was far better than the Windows and Blackberry phones. And, because it came out later than it was promised, the iPhone stole its thunder.

The Touchpad looked like a plastic blob and was fatter than an iPad. It was clear that the hardware did not match the capabilities of the software.   And, its price was about the same as the iPad- without the apps that, by now, were available for the iPhone.  Mostly because both Palm AND HP did not work with their developers (or provide them with development kits early on in the process).

Yes, HP paid $1.2 billion to acquire Palm in June 2010 (the process started some 60 days earlier).  And, two months later its president, Mark Hurd, was fired.  The potential visionary who knew where webOS could take HP.  And, was replaced by Leo Apotheker, whose vision is to remake HP into a software and services company, sans the computer business (just like IBM). (Admittedly, the computer business is becoming generic, but HP has the largest business share, by far.  And, was still making a profit from this business.)  So, Apotheker jettisoned the entire computer business, including the webOS platform.  Because he believes that the consumer business is irrelevant.

But, he did prove something else.  Tablets, which were the dream of Bill Gates (Microsoft) for at least 15 years, do still have a market.  Oh, I know- you are going to tell me that the iPad is a Tablet. How could I miss that?  Maybe because not once has Apple ever mentioned the word ‘tablet’ in conjunction with an iPad.

The iPad, according to the now departed Steve Jobs, is ‘amazing’,’magical’, and ‘revolutionary’, but never a ‘tablet’.  Those Android devices- they are tablets.  And, the problem is that no one has found a justification for pricing those devices in the same range as an iPad.

Want proof?  As soon as HP killed the Touchpad and lowered the price to $ 99, it became the highest selling unit- overnight.  And, by number of units, will probably be the sales leader for second half of 2011- even though there are no more left now.

What this proves is that there is a market for tablets- but their price range is somewhere closer to $ 99; maybe even as high as $ 250- but certainly not $ 500.  Which means that the market is now clearly defined for Microsoft, as it gets ready to unveil Windows 8 and its tablets.

What else have we learned from this?  Just like the Osborne computer, the best selling computer in its day, was killed by IBM, when it announced a product that did not yet exist (the PC Junior), HP has done the same for every $ 350 to $ 500 tablet device out there- unless that entity finds a way to define the market differently.

It means when you design your new product, you shouldn’t use the specifications as the world obtains now. Instead, envision the world as it will be once someone tries to develop a knock-off (or improvement) to your product, once it debuts.  That is the way you will be able to grow your business and offer the second generation version yourself.

By the way, this is exactly the sort of analysis for which we excel.  We work with you to develop criteria AND products to meet the objectives of the future, using technology and industrial design principles.

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