[sj4231#AC]

It could happen. Look at the Sony Betamax player and the Toshiba HD DVD player. The latter was one that lost content (e.g. app) support and had to fold.

Webos success is not guaranteed and this is why HP must work harder since Palm missed a product cycle last year and is launching products that are equal (or behind) to other phones in the market, such as the PRE2.

[shadavis08]

too many people out there like webOS for it to ever flop . and too many people out there that dont even like the pre love webOS and are just waiting for the right device to come out before they come back to webOS . believe me there are alot of them too !!

[h-cubed]

Well IF there is a great flopping there would probably be a few possible scenarios...

1. There will be a great exodus to the greatest Android device out at that time

2. People will still hold on their their dying WebOS devices with no support or OTA updates(dont see this one happening though)

3. Apple takes over the world (Umm nu huh!)

4. WP7 steps in to fill the void. (They do have a update w/ Card view multitasking coming soon)

[sj4231#AC]

Or, HP, Microsoft, & RIM join forces to create Webberry 7 to compete with the evil fruit empire & the Anborg system... ;-0

[mofishmgr]

I hope webOS doesn't go the way of OS2. That was an outstanding operating system. I've used Android devices and the iphone and as far as operating systems go, neither can hold a candle to webOS. WebOS is much more akin to Mac OSX than iOS is. Great multitasking, ease of set up and ease of use. Hopefully HP puts out great hardware and gets developers onboard. Both will be necessary to compete.

[mikeisnowonfire]

HP put way too much money into acquiring Palm and other companies to not make this work. These moved showed that HP was all in with this.

[Kuffoman]

I've been looking at all these posts and I'm thinking about that beta max comment and well it's true. Sometimes products can just die if it doesn't do well. Beta max like webOS was superior to everything currently out but if hp can't market or get developers to expand on the platform, price it reasonably nothing will happen and people won't buy. I may have to hold on to my future pre3 much longer than I expected. Kinda like how I still have a Dreamcast, that thing was legendary. It just never caught on with the consumer.

[The Solutor]

I've been looking at all these posts and I'm thinking about that beta max comment and well it's true. Sometimes products can just die if it doesn't do well. Beta max like webOS was superior to everything currently out but if hp can't market or get developers to expand on the platform, price it reasonably nothing will happen and people won't buy. I may have to hold on to my future pre3 much longer than I expected. Kinda like how I still have a Dreamcast, that thing was legendary. It just never caught on with the consumer.

I think the last train is already missed, HP is nowhere powerful enough to give the necessary traction to webos.

That train was probably missed also by experienced and powerful actors like nokia and microsoft, its really impossible that HP can change the already written fate of webos.

Maibe they can push the tablet to some corporate market but the smartphone challenge is hopeless. No matter how good the new phones will be, there isn't a single reason for the average Joe to buy a webos phone.

And the example of VHS v.s betamax is almost perfect, almost because webos here is video2000, not betamax.

BTW betamax or not the people buy the technolgy to use it, if they aren't
videotapes to rent or programs to use, no one will buy that phone or that VTR.

[sandlizard]

Lets face it, HP does not have a glorious track record of releasing leading edge technology in the computer world. Yes they build solid gear that works well, but they are not out there coming up with new ideas and blazing new trails. So to expect them to all of a sudden develop that personality for their cell phone division, Palm, is a bit unrealistic. And that is what they need to be to succeed, leading edge, putting out tech that people anticipate.
I am afraid we are going to see functional middle of the road phones by the time they are released. And in the dog eat dog of the cell phone world, that sort of business plan does not work. HP is not going to keep making phones just to keep WebOS alive. If they can't get a dynamic plan, putting out leading edge technology, they will not even make a dent in the cell phone market. Apple, Motorola, HTC have phones that are 2 months old that are superior to the Pre3. And the Pre3 is not on the market, and we have no clue when it will be. What comes next? If this is how HP continues, their cell phone division goes down. I have to wonder if they have a cognizant development plan to put WebOS in a position to compete. It will not compete releasing similar tech, 4-5 months later than everyone else. This is what they are doing now. Xoom is in the market place, iPad is entrenched, Dell, other companies have had tablets on the market for months and months. The Touch Pad will be out this summer. People are going to be very less likely to change tablets, when they cost $500-900 than they are cell phones. The company that gets a functional tablet on the market first, wins. Think Apple. iPad 1 was so far from perfect, but because it was highly anticipated and first out, it went viral! Catch up is very tough and right now all HP sees is the rear of all the dogs in front of them. I don't expect them to do well in this, they have no experience. They think like a slow to market PC maker, where a 3-6 month delay is no big deal, because you are looking at a 1-2 year life cycle. That is death in the cell phone world where the life cycle is in months and sometimes weeks. WebOS is a wonderful OS, but it can't lead HP out of the darkness by itself. HP has to develop hardware that people anticipate, and put off purchase for. Like the iPad and iphone. If they can't do that WebOS will slowly go into the night.

[h-cubed]

Or, HP, Microsoft, & RIM join forces to create Webberry 7 to compete with the evil fruit empire & the Anborg system... ;-0

Haha good one!

[sandlizard]

HP put way too much money into acquiring Palm and other companies to not make this work. These moved showed that HP was all in with this.

Pouring money into something in no way ensures success. Microsoft poured 10' of millions into Window Vista and it will never be anything but a stinker. And they build OS's, it's what they do.
HP has no experience at all in what they are trying to accomplish, catch up from last place, in the cell phone market that has a turnover in months, not years like their PC divisions. WebOS, or Android, the odds are highly against HP succeeding in this. The hardware they are releasing is average at best compared to what is already online from Apple, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, the list goes on; except the Touch Pad, it has potential. But it is too late to the market. If it could have matched Xoom on release, or beat it, maybe a better chance. Market saturation is a reality, and Apple, Dell, now the Xoom, are all out the gates and selling units. HP is still in the barn. Tough to win races from there.

[kjb86]

Actually, betamax/vcr, bluray/hd dvd are quite bad examples and has no comparison in the smartphone industry.

[barkerja]

Actually, betamax/vcr, bluray/hd dvd are quite bad examples and has no comparison in the smartphone industry.

Actually it's a very good comparison because it's all about adoption.

Check out this link: Videotape format war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You can see a lot of parallels.

[John Kneeland]

It's not just adoption; it's about APPS. You can't get customers without apps and you can't get apps without customers. The question is how can HP get themselves out of the current no-apps-no-customers cycle? Some things they should be working on:

1. Increase user base however they can. They are doing this to the best of their ability by not just coming out with new webOS devices, but also putting it on their PCs. When the world's #1 PC manufacturer starts bundling something with its systems, that helps

2. Get the number of apps to "acceptable," even if it means building them yourself. You don't need 30 different fart apps or countdown timer apps. But you DO need the major ones on your platform. HP is indeed going to do this.

3. Encourage cross-platform development to erode the iOS/Android duopoly. In addition to HTML5 web apps, there are software development frameworks designed to make cross-platform development easy (Particle Code, PhoneGap). HP should both promote these to their developers and investing in the companies that create these. Does this simultaneously benefit the other "tier-2" platforms? Yes. But HP has to know that they have 2 choices: being shut out of the duopoly like every other tier-2, or a world where tier-2s can flourish.

I know they are doing 1 and 2, but I don't know about 3...

[Suntan]

Just because HP spent a loot of money on WebOS, doesn't mean they will guarantee it to be a success.

If it continues to flounder smart money says cut your losses. Either it will be dumped, or mutated to something that has nothing to do with consumer phones (printers/business handhelds/etc.)

Not likely, but not impossible either.

Personally, if WebOS fails, I'll likely get a windows7 phone. Or possibly an Android. I prefer WebOS, but I'll not be losing too much sleep. It's still just a phone. I think some people here are too invested in WebOS, even without paying a billion bucks...

-Suntan

[EvilKell]

Who cares what happens if webOS flops? Well, anyway, HP will continue dumping money into webOS for at least another year. If it's still flopping in a years time, HP will abandon webOS. Maybe it'll sell off the Palm stuff to RIM or to Microsoft.

[koolkid09]

Who cares what happens if webOS flops?

Many of the webos fans here on precentral...

[Kuffoman]

Outlook seems grim :/

[nappy]

3. Encourage cross-platform development to erode the iOS/Android duopoly. In addition to HTML5 web apps, there are software development frameworks designed to make cross-platform development easy (Particle Code, PhoneGap). HP should both promote these to their developers and investing in the companies that create these. Does this simultaneously benefit the other "tier-2" platforms? Yes. But HP has to know that they have 2 choices: being shut out of the duopoly like every other tier-2, or a world where tier-2s can flourish.

The problem with that is it would discourage people from actually buying webOS devices because they'd be able to run those apps on an iPhone or an Android phone while also having access to all the apps that aren't available on webOS.

[bennish]

I think the last train is already missed, HP is nowhere powerful enough to give the necessary traction to webos.

Umm... are you aware of exactly HOW powerful HP is? Like... maybe you wanna read up on HP a bit.