HP to stop production of smartphones/tablets, and sell of computer business

In nod to IBM, HP overhaul minimizes consumers - Yahoo! Finance

This is honestly a shocker! Not in a way that I didn't see coming, because their profits are some of the lowest in the industry, but because of how huge HP is in the computer industry. What's also surprising is how they told BestBuy not too long ago to just hold on to their tablet stock when BestBuy complained about people not buying them. O.O
I wonder who would be a good candidate to buy their PC side of the business?

I'm going to quote 2 things from it:

"Apple singlehandedly knocked HP out of the PC, smartphone and tablet business,"

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"Apple is a such a fierce competitor that HP probably realized it was going to have to cut its losses,"

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It doesn't surprise me. The wounded are being killed off. It will be interesting to see who buys the HP PC division though. Dell? (More likely a Chinese company similar to Lenovo.)

HP laptops in particular are poor. stick to printers.

The real shame is that yet another great American brand is basically yielding the space to the Chinese. Unfortunately, you just can't compete with the Chinese on price. You have to build a brand cachet and appeal to the customer on quality and value - not something you can do with a commodity product like low-buck PCs.

It's a shame that they assimilated the Voodoo brand, which was known for exactly that - a meticulously crafted product that was known for great quality and support. Hopefully one of these companies will figure out the right formula. Even though Windows machines are a dime a dozen, I do think that if one of these companies could build a high-quality, stylish PC with a superior support model, they could have a good (if niche) business.

It's just a shame that most people aren't willing to pay for good support. They buy a computer purely on price and spec, with little consideration to service after the sale.

robduckyworth said:

HP laptops in particular are poor. stick to printers.

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That's a joke, right? They have some of the crappiest printers out there. Oddly enough, before I bought my MBP, I had a 17" HP DV8230. The main hdd attachment point on the motherboard fried. Everything else still worked, and it still is going today...though with only 1 hdd bay left. What made them really bad as a PC manufacturer is that they coupled their not-so-stellar pc quality with HORRENDOUS customer service.

This might sound weird, but I actually want Apple to buy out HP. Apple could benefit from patents(unless HP holds on to them), as well as their business related servers and pcs. I'm sure there are other things too.

idrinorbarsaku said:

That's a joke, right? They have some of the crappiest printers out there. Oddly enough, before I bought my MBP, I had a 17" HP DV8230. The main hdd attachment point on the motherboard fried. Everything else still worked, and it still is going today...though with only 1 hdd bay left. What made them really bad as a PC manufacturer is that they coupled their not-so-stellar pc quality with HORRENDOUS customer service.

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Their low-end, consumer grade printers are crap, I agree. Their mid to high-end printers aren't bad at all. I have 15+ year old HP LaserJets at work that are still trucking along.

The problem with too many American companies thinking that only the lowest price matters and they'll make up the profits with the higher volume. Cutting prices only works up to a point. That point has been reached and and then undercut - several times - the last few years by most of the PC manufacturers in their view of wanting to be the biggest. Instead of cutting their profit margins by cutting prices, more of them should be maintaining prices and spending that money by creating better product, better support/customer service...

I've owned several different HP/Compaq systems, and several printers from HP.

My observations, which are confirming what cwa107 said about printers:

Cheaper = crap.
Their all-in-ones are pretty good though. Step below that line, and things turn ugly.

We've had five HP desktops in the last 10 years. Three are still running (one is from 2005, the other two are 2008 and 2010).

Two HP laptops, one Compaq. The Compaq was pure junk, though still runs. The two HP laptops were good for seven and five years each, before the power port on one of them decided to un-weld itself, it lasted for seven years. Replaced the motherboard ($600) and it did it again. Recycled the whole thing (2003 model). Second HP laptop, the mobo fried. HP gave us smack about it, so we sold it as is (it was a 2006 model).


With all that being said, I find HP's high dollar notebooks are pretty well built, and their desktops are great. Dad went to Dell and Toshiba for his notebook computers. If I had to replace my 2007 Toshiba Satellite, I would take an HP.

I love my MacBook though!

This is sad news and I agree with CWA. Another long time american brand down the tubes. That bugs me. They at one time made some of the finest electronic test equipment on the face of the earth. Their Audio test generators and Scopes were first rate. I still use some of their old Tube Audio Oscillators and they work just like brand new 25-30 years later.

Their Laser printers are still first rate. Used them for years and love them. It's just some of their more recent Low end printers that are not the best, but love their high end stuff for sure.

HP is currently the exclusive provider of Air Print compatible printers (unless I missed some announcement). If HP isn't making printers any longer, could that expedite other manufacturers' move into the Air Print arena?

Gotta agree with dtravis7. Having worked for years in electronic repair and for the US Government for most of the time, we purchased and used HP laboratory test equipment exclusively. Their scopes, generators, spectrum analyzers, are some of the best made in the world.

The older HP LaserJet printers made for network and wide use are some of the most hardy printers made. Many of them are still in use. I still have a collection of older HP printers that are still alive and working. As a matter of fact, we had so many laying around that we actually had to throw or give some of them away. All were working but needed Ink tank refills.

Don't equate the El Cheapo HP-Compaqs to what the company made for years that was top notch. Compaq before they went under and were purchased by HP made some of the best IBM clones in the world. Anyone remember the Compaq DeskPro series?

Yes, remember them well. Very well made machines!

What actually surprises me the most in this announcement was the treatment of webOS. They only recently bought it from Palm, invested good money into it and just released a few new devices. They didn't really give webOS a chance in any form. They weren't thinking that it would magically become a top-tier mobile OS overnight did they?

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Agree completely. I loved WebOS. Got to try the Palm Pre and it was the only phone I used at the time that I liked as much as the iPhone. I have read some outstanding reviews of WebOS since HP took it over and it's a shame they are giving up so soon. Their tablet with WebOS was the only device I have used that could in my opinion beat out the iPad with IOS. Excellent tablet and cell phone OS.

What actually surprises me the most in this announcement was the treatment of webOS. They only recently bought it from Palm, invested good money into it and just released a few new devices. They didn't really give webOS a chance in any form. They weren't thinking that it would magically become a top-tier mobile OS overnight did they?

vansmith said:

What actually surprises me the most in this announcement was the treatment of webOS. They only recently bought it from Palm, invested good money into it and just released a few new devices. They didn't really give webOS a chance in any form. They weren't thinking that it would magically become a top-tier mobile OS overnight did they?

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What surprises me the most is how Dennis managed to read your mind and quote you before you had even posted your thread.

vansmith said:

What actually surprises me the most in this announcement was the treatment of webOS. They only recently bought it from Palm, invested good money into it and just released a few new devices. They didn't really give webOS a chance in any form. They weren't thinking that it would magically become a top-tier mobile OS overnight did they?

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Razormac said:

What surprises me the most is how Dennis managed to read your mind and quote you before you had even posted your thread.

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I did not want to clutter the forums with my stupid posts, so I edited one I had done just before Van and added the quote. No I am not that good! Van and I are good friends though, but I can't read his mind.

dtravis7 said:

I did not want to clutter the forums with my stupid posts, so I edited one I had done just before Van and added the quote. No I am not that good! Van and I are good friends though, but I can't read his mind.

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Now I'm disappointed!
I figured it was you using one of those Moderator superpowers we hear about.

idrinorbarsaku said:

That's a joke, right? They have some of the crappiest printers out there.

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I have a HP printer that cost me about 60-70 quid. had it for a year now. great picture quality, drivers are solid, good build quality, nothing bad about it.
easy to use.

then i get on a HP laptop. greeted with a touchpad that feels like some really crusty skin, doesn't work well, you cant tell where the touchpad ends and the weird, textured laptop casing starts, then i try and carry it around and it weighs like 3 kg. then the multimedia buttons and volume controls are a wierd plasticky touch button thing that lights up, and barely work and aren't sensitive enough.

then i manage to boot the thing up only to find its filled with bloatware and HP crap that i have to remove, along with a 30 day trial of MacAfee that it practically forces me to install before logging on the first time.

yeah, i dont like them.

I like my HP all in one printer works better than any I have had but i will agree about the track pad on their laptops especially my G42 it could use a complete redesign.

I was literally only a click away from just buying a new 32gb Touchpad for only $150 from HP's website... SO ANGRYYYYYYY!!!!! They sold out QUICK! At $100 for the 16gb and $150 for the 32gb, it's a no brainer even if they do discontinue support...it's already way better than any android crap at a similar price.

idrinorbarsaku said:

I was literally only a click away from just buying a new 32gb Touchpad for only $150 from HP's website... SO ANGRYYYYYYY!!!!! They sold out QUICK! At $100 for the 16gb and $150 for the 32gb, it's a no brainer even if they do discontinue support...it's already way better than any android crap at a similar price.

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Pretty much in the same boat. I want to try the TP, but considering HP's decision on webOS...is there really anything that would keep me using it?