HP CEO: We Have to Ultimately Offer a Smartphone

Suggestion: They have to come up with a plan <i>and stick to it</i>. Through thick and thin. They have to be like Apple with the AppleTV. Don't make lofty pronouncements, call it a hobby, anything, but just keep plugging away incrementally improving it.<p>I don't care if it's a smartphone, a thin PC, or a mid-sized tablet with VoIP. Pick one and try to build it slowly, absorb punishment and learn from mistakes, but just keep plugging away instead of trying to hit one out of the park.

I am greatly depressed by this. I actually used a HP Veer for a short while and really loved the hardware and the concept of the OS. I prefer small phones, so the Veer hit a sweet spot for me.<p>But the quality control... there was a software bug around every corner which finally meant that I picked other options. If they had just spent a few more month polishing and then made their mobile push, the Veer or the Palm 3 would have been my phone to go.<p>And now they want to start it all again? No, thank you.

They already have few smart phones and had a great tablet device. They screwed up themselves. Remember $99 and $149 tablet device sale? At one point they were shutting down their own PC business. They just need a great visionary CEO.

Hey HP, you used to have a smartphone, a good one by the way. Does the name "Pre" ring any bell ?

I think HP rebounding from the Palm "incident" and somehow still managing to release a hit smartphone would be more miraculous then Apple rising from the Ashes.<p>I look forward to seeing what happens, but I'm very skeptical that a company such as HP has any chance at this.

I think Meg Whitman just recommended I start shorting HP stock.. It seems HP has lost all direction and purpose..<p>At least Leo had a vision for a services company.

Offering Windows Phone 8 devices is an obvious play for a hardware vendor that's aligned with Microsoft.<p>With WP8, HP does what it's comfortable doing - hardware - and Microsoft does the software stack.<p>Whether HP (and Microsoft, for that matter) can gain traction against Android and iOS remains to be determined.

So basically, they are a computing company and need to offer a smartphone because in developing countries that's the only computer people will buy/need.<p>How will they ever compete to the likes of Apple/Aindroid partners who just dump yesterday's models for very low prices in those countries?

It's interesting that Whitman (HP's President) seems to suggest their "in" would be targeting smartphones specifically at consumers in developing countries. That's an interesting angle. It does suggest a lack of an overarching strategy, though. It looks as though they're simply scanning for any possible gap in the market without considering how such a move could fit within the company as a whole. (Not that the Nasdaq piece gives much to go on, of course).

Why exactly do they need to enter an over-competitive market where their prospect are poor ?

I really hope they pick WebOS back up. It is an awesome product, by far beats Android in overall quality and ease of use and development, it would be a much, much better competitor to iOS.

Palm might have had a chance with different leadership and no Leo... =(<p>Just thinking about it bums me out how a single bad person at the helm can so royally mess things up.

If they move to the smartphone market they also have to reconfigure their distribution channels. PCs and Printers utilise different sales channels. In the western world, carriers hold the key to sales through subsidies, they can kill products by not offering them (Kin, original Nexus). In developing world countries, they need to get deals with the mobile retailer channel. Making a great product is only 1 part of the equation.

Why not fire up the 3D printing market?

What Leo Apotheker did to HP in his short tenure is borderline criminal. If I owned HP stock or were an employee I would be livid - but it's not totally his fault - it is also the Board's fault for bringing in a dinosaur with a complete lack of vision of the marketplace. I knew from the moment they hired him it was going to be a trainwreck. I'm sure many of the astute industry participants/observers here felt the same thing.

I'm quite likely the features The Verge website has to offer. If anyone wants to have a quick overview of how this sick story evolved check this out: <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/31/2528253/hp-turmoil-apotheker-whitman-webos-pc-division" rel="nofollow">http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/31/2528253/hp-turmoil-apothe...</a>

Me too!