RIP TouchPad, Pre: HP Confirms WebOS Division Lay-offs

By Jane McEntegart
published

This shouldn't come as a surprise.

HP's webOS division is having a tough time as of late. The company recently announced that it was axing its TouchPad and Pre line of tablets and smartphones and sold off all remaining stock in a huge fire sale. Since then, the future of webOS remains unclear. While HP said it would continue to develop webOS, it admitted that it was stopping development on webOS hardware. Today, HP confirmed that it's trimming the fat in the webOS division.

"As communicated on August 18, HP will discontinue the development of webOS devices within the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ends Oct. 31, 2011," the company told AllThingsD today. "As part of this decision, the webOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce. Today’s actions are part of this initiative. During this time, we stand by our commitment to our webOS customers and will work to ensure that support and service for customers are not adversely affected. HP is exploring ways to leverage webOS software."

HP has not specified how many people will lose their jobs but the number is rumored to be somewhere in the region of 500 people. AllThingsDigital cites sources close to the situation that say HP is preparing to lay off 525 people. HP has one final production run on TouchPads before it discontinues the development of webOS devices and winds down device operations within its fourth fiscal quarter.

Jane McEntegart
18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • captaincharisma
    i think everyone knew this would happen. especially after the firesale there was word that someone was trying to get android on the touchpad.
    Reply
  • southernshark
    hp claimed earlier that this would not be the end of their tablet business, but clearly that was a lie, thrown out just to slow the decline in their stock value, which is headed fast to the single digits.
    Reply
  • law shay
    end of fourth quarter is Oct 31 ?
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Doh
    Reply
  • alidan
    southernsharkhp claimed earlier that this would not be the end of their tablet business, but clearly that was a lie, thrown out just to slow the decline in their stock value, which is headed fast to the single digits.
    the end of their own os on a tablet, yes, end of tablet altogether, not yet.
    Reply
  • michaelahess
    law shayend of fourth quarter is Oct 31 ?
    Fiscal years for business' very commonly don't start and stop at the beggining/end of the year.
    Reply
  • allensays
    I'm sure this is the result of incompetent supervisors that could care less what the peasants under them had ideas about that could of made this OS something more.
    Reply
  • ridewya
    Lol dumb ass hp never do anything right, thts wht happen when these mofos CEO just care for their big chunk salary, multi million dollar homes and dont give rats about their company, hp should learn more from apple or those japanese car maker, dedication, integrity, innovation and sense of belonging to heir company
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    Hopefully many will find new homes at Google, Apple or Microsoft.
    Reply
  • g00fysmiley
    southernsharkhp claimed earlier that this would not be the end of their tablet business, but clearly that was a lie, thrown out just to slow the decline in their stock value, which is headed fast to the single digits.
    They still make tablets, just go to newegg and see for yourself the slate are still listed though quite expensive, they simply cut off WebOS ... sad for me as I loved WebOS and still use my pre, and I couldn't ge tone of the hp touchpads at the firesale price (hoping to in the email group though)
    Reply