[Popple3]

I don't mean to be cynical, but what financial interest do HP have in maintaining webOS? I know they have their cut from the App Catalog, but I can't imagine that being a good business model.

webOS printers? webOS toasters?

Perhaps it's just a legal thing that they have to support for a certain amount of time after products they sell are at end of life?

[gamer765]

Possibly just the app catalog. If webOS gets on more devices, more devs will be making apps and the app catalog should be more populated, thus increasing HP's profits due to increased webOS adoption.

[babydaddy75]

Slightly more for sure and possibly a lot more then just killing it.

[auTONYmous]

(and to continue this train of thought):

...adoption will drive interest from 3rd-party app devs and hardware vendors (if that's still on the table).

But of course, the lynchpin is hardware. Is there enough in the wild now or available short-term to foster that support and excitement without the promise of NEW hardware in the future?

Can the TouchPad be considered a pure "developer device" without a 2.0? Will a dev be able to push WebOS to the next level without a device that features (for example) NFC or an LTE chipset and portable drivers for that?

[dgf2002]

they get a great tax write-off and make community happy and keep door open for their continued use of software for printers.

[auTONYmous]

ooh....I just read this...here's the REALLY interesting part:

http://www.precentral.net/open-source-plan...last paragraph.

The PATENTS are the key. Anybody ready for HTC to jump ship, bringing already-equipped Beats Audio handhelds (slabs, no doubt) back to WebOS?

I've heard "easier to code than Android" (can't quantify that statement). How about "Patent Protected" to get hardware vendors interested in a Free as-in-beer and mature OS ready to deploy.

This **** just got real!

[dgf2002]

ooh....I just read this...here's the REALLY interesting part:

http://www.precentral.net/open-source-plan...last paragraph.

The PATENTS are the key. Anybody ready for HTC to jump ship, bringing already-equipped Beats Audio handhelds (slabs, no doubt) back to WebOS?

I've heard "easier to code than Android" (can't quantify that statement). How about "Patent Protected" to get hardware vendors interested in a Free as-in-beer and mature OS ready to deploy.

This **** just got real!

cant get to linky.

[Popple3]

I guess this answers the question:
Meg Whitman and Marc Andreessen on webOS: 'We will use webOS in new hardware... in tablets' | The Verge

More webOS tablets! Sweet!

[OrionAntares#CB]

I've heard "easier to code than Android" (can't quantify that statement).

The "easier to code than Android" issue I believe relates more to the varied hardware sets out there as well as all the OEM forks and overlays of Android. The unfortunate truth is that webOS could end up in the same situation if the OEMs start forking it.

[stri8ed]

Here is my thoughts,

HP wants a plan B in event windows 8 tablets dont take off, which they have good reason for concern. By open sourcing WebOs it will strengthen it and its ecosystem, which makes it a stronger alternative. By open sourcing it, it allows other vendors to work on building a user base, which means HP does not need to invest billions into making it a viable option for users and developers.

People need to remember Windows 8 is branded like an alternative tablet OS, this means it needs to go head to head with the Ipad, and any relevance and credibility windows had from the billions of PC's sold is lost, just like the windows phone. Essentially windows 8 will need to start from scratch, apps, devices etc.. This is probably why microsoft is trying so hard to shove the original "full" windows into windows 8, so it wont be compared directly to the ipad.

Thoughts?

[ursula]

So is HP being very smart by open sourcing WebOS? Because technically if the developers and community are developing the software, it saves HP money but also gains traction for the OS itself meaning third party developers create more apps for the platform and it eventually gains popularity. Do you think HP wants this to happen so in the future, when the OS could possibly have much more traction than it does now, be put onto hardware and sold by HP?

[chodaboy]

Also, if HP believes the real money is in the cloud and enterprise apps, the easier it is for you to consume these backend services, the more likely you will -- especially if the platform and HP already have a working relationship (Synergy).

[i2y4n]

I can't understand how HP plans on making money from open sourcing webOS and that worries me. With no way to turn a profit I can't see webOS lasting a long while as an open source project.

The only ways I can think that webOS can be leveraged for money when its open sourced is from hardware sales, apps, and sell through of content. HP has stated they are not creating hardware in the near term, possibly all of 2012, and then just on tablets.

HP does not own content stores. They don't sell music, movies, or books. Perhaps they could negotiate a sales commission similar to a retail store, however there are not many good online content stores to partner with.

Apps are not as lucrative as they seem. In fact I doubt they even cover their expenses for HP. Apple has stated that the app store breaks even and although I don't believe it to be entirely true I don't think it makes a significant portion of their profit.

All I see HP doing is spending money on employees, servers, cloud services, support, lawyers, and whatever else for a zero return investment. I don't think its sustainable and it makes me worry about webOS's future.

[djphatjive]

I can't understand how HP plans on making money from open sourcing webOS and that worries me. With no way to turn a profit I can't see webOS lasting a long while as an open source project.

Your right... Google makes no money from Android.

[cgk]

Your right... Google makes no money from Android.

Different model - google's is based around ad-revenue from search on the phones plus they have a content infrastructure and the licensing costs for their suite of apps - even then it's not actually clear if they are making money off it, they are very vague about it in their quarterly reports.

[The Bard]

I think HP just want WebOS on their printer. And to make environment that benefits their printer they want anybody else do the works via open source the webOS. So if lots of vendor make devices base on WebOS. Then HP printer base on WebOS will appealed many people especially business market.

[ungenius]

I can't understand how HP plans on making money from open sourcing webOS and that worries me. With no way to turn a profit I can't see webOS lasting a long while as an open source project.

The only ways I can think that webOS can be leveraged for money when its open sourced is from hardware sales, apps, and sell through of content. HP has stated they are not creating hardware in the near term, possibly all of 2012, and then just on tablets.

HP does not own content stores. They don't sell music, movies, or books. Perhaps they could negotiate a sales commission similar to a retail store, however there are not many good online content stores to partner with.

Apps are not as lucrative as they seem. In fact I doubt they even cover their expenses for HP. Apple has stated that the app store breaks even and although I don't believe it to be entirely true I don't think it makes a significant portion of their profit.

All I see HP doing is spending money on employees, servers, cloud services, support, lawyers, and whatever else for a zero return investment. I don't think its sustainable and it makes me worry about webOS's future.

canonical is pretty successful business-wise with ubuntu....

[geekpeter]

as of now they can let others do the bulk of their OS work then at a later date if it picks up, somehow step in and profit, maybe via new hardware sales or just from the app cat side, who knows.

we shoudlnt complain tbh, we got something tasty.

[cgk]

canonical is pretty successful business-wise with ubuntu....

Are they? last year, they were talking about how revenues might allow them to finally breakeven, I'm not sure what the current picture is.

I'm not even sure it's worth having a conversation about success at this stage because we don't know all the specifics yet or what KPIs they are going to use to determine how far their support goes - I am guessing it is going to be 2013/2014 before we have any real picture.

Anyway as Geekpeter says best to enjoy the moment...

[pad32]

Let me try to explain this from a financial perspective.

HP bought webOS for $1.2B, even if HP can sell this thing for $700M today (which might not be possible), you still post an immediate loss of $500M. Instead, if HP keep this assets and try to make another business model, this asset is still worth $1.2B and potentially may bring in additional revenue.

Open source does not mean free of charge for vendors using webOS, and HP is still in control of all the webOS patterns, and manages the webOS user online account services, which is tightly integrated into webOS as an potential full function cloud service. If HP does the right thing, they will make revenue with a service. This means even if HP does not sell its hardware device, they still can make money. Of course, when webOS market really takes off, HP can easily start the device business again with its obvious hardware expertise and cost advantage - it is the No.1 PC manufacturer.