With HP now concentrating on printers, servers, services and other more profitable ventures, a wry observer could argue that Apotheker is merely retreating into his enterprise comfort zone. That would be a touch unfair though Apotheker is cutting HP's deadweight. Despite its impressive technology, webOS clearly has less momentum behind it then either iOS or Android and perhaps even Blackberry OS or Windows Phone. This may have been different if HP had acquired Palm earlier, or if the combined HP-Palm had been more aggressive in its hardware designs, channel distributioin and pricing.
The company has been rapacious in its acquisitions... but has been inconsistent in integrating those acquisitions and technologies into its existing portfolio.
Meanwhile, PCs and laptops are increasingly a commodity business unless you can charge premium prices, like Sony or Apple. HP has never managed to successfully do this on a mass scale, despite its acquisition of premium gaming PC manufacturer Voodoo and its attempts to market 'fashionable' laptops available in a variety of colours and designs.
More important are the executive decisions that led HP to this point. The company has been rapacious in its acquisitions over the years from Compaq and Palm to DEC, EDS, Voodoo and 3Com, but has been inconsistent in integrating those acquisitions and technologies into its existing portfolio. Its attempts over the years to dominate markets as diverse as printers, smartphones, tablets, PDAs, business PCs and laptops, high-end gaming PCs, consumer laptops, digital cameras, enterprise servers, business services and networking equipment has led the company to being a jack of all trades, but arguably a master of very few.
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