HP planning to stick with Microsoft for Windows 8 tablets

By Tom Warren, on 28th Oct 11 9:23 am with 34 Comments

HP Windows 8 tablet?

HP revealed on Thursday that it is planning to stick with Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system for tablets.

HP CEO Meg Whitman announced on Thursday that the company plans to keep hold of its PC division and work with Microsoft on Windows 8. Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group at HP, revealed the company’s Windows 8 plans in a conference call on Thursday. This is my next reports that Bradley said he isn’t deterred by Apple and Android devices. “We’re at the beginning stages of a new segment,” said Bradley. “I hardly think that we’re too late, the work we’re doing with Microsoft is extraordinarily compelling, ultraportables are compelling.”

HP originally announced that it was on the brink of spinning off its Personal Systems Group (PSG). The group is responsible for consumer and business PCs and accessories along with digital entertainment devices. HP CEO Meg Whitman announced on Thursday that the company has no plans to scrap its PC division. “HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG. It’s clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right for customers and partners, right for shareholders, and right for employees,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “HP is committed to PSG, and together we are stronger.”

HP ships the largest amount of PCs worldwide and will play a big role in Microsoft’s roll-out of Windows 8 PCs. HP looks set to introduce a Windows 8 tablet. HP unveiled a Windows 7 based Slate in October. Priced at $799, the device is powered by a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540, 2GB of RAM, 64GB SSD and will handle 1080p video. There’s also a front facing camera and a rear one. The 8.9-inch device runs Windows 7 Professional and HP targeted the enterprise and business market. HP hasn’t ruled out further Windows 8 based tablets though. HP’s Phil McKinney, president and CTO of HP’s personal systems group, revealed that the company is working closely with Microsoft for Windows 8 in an interview earlier this year.

  • BobThePC

    Seeing as though HP already have some Windows 7 tablets (enterprise and consumer) it is obvious they would be looking at Wndows 8 for future releases..

  • Ronit Kumar

    I think the senseless talks of the “POST PC” era blew up their mind. I still don’t see myself using Photoshop or Spreadsheets on a tablet and then hitting my head on the table. I think HP believes they are in safe hands with Microsoft. Microsoft’s Metro beautifully feeds the tablets and Aero feeds the PCs. Also my PC
    - plays all my digital content and feeds my mobile too
    - downloads all those latest movies and games
    - plays FIFA 12 and NFS superbly, and then streams a live football match
    - edits my photos in Photoshop, and produces world class documents with Office
    - Video conferences with my family.
    - Etc etc.
    So why would I ever GIVE UP on my PC?? 

    • Anonymous

      True, the PC should never disappear.

    • Anonymous

      THE PC will never disappear.
      post pc era is a joke.
      with windows 8 tablets will become PCs.

    • Martyn Metalous

      I agree, all that will change with Tablets is, they become a laptop without a fixed keyboard and mouse. Touch is not as productive, so at the persons desk, bluetooth keyboard and mouse, on the road, use touch.

      Makes perfect sense to me, sure there will still be boxes, netbooks and laptops as well.

    • http://twitter.com/revontuli3 Michal Gurník

      i don’t think apple meant the post-pc era as a joke :D just as a marketing campaign

    • Guest

      Post PC != End of PC. It refers to a world where the [traditional] PC isn’t at the center of computing like it has been for several decades.

      Personally, I think tablets and smartphones are just the PC morphing once again. But there’s no denying the growing importance of the cloud and with it, being less bound to a single device.

      The issue for MS, Intel, Dell, HP, etc., is that while PCs will live on in different forms, none of them are currently well positioned in mobile or tablets. Plus, it’s a great marketing strategy for Apple because it resonates well and plays to where they’re strong vs Macs where they’re relatively weak on a worldwide share basis.

    • Anonymous

      I think the idea behind the post-PC era is that of a computer that can function as a tablet, a laptop, and a desktop all in one. This is what Microsoft seems to be pushing with Windows 8 – you have the ‘tablet mode’ (metro apps, games, etc) + the regular desktop mode – and I honestly can’t wait for a tablet that I can simply plug into a dock to use Office or play traditional games.

    • Anonymous

      w7 for pc and w8 tablet.

    • Anonymous

      How about W8 for both?

    • Anonymous

      I agree but Ronit kumar does not

    • http://www.twitter.com/wixostrix WixosTrix

      yeah we don’t need Windows 7 sticking sticking around for 10 years the way XP did. People need to just accept change. It’s all for the better anyway.

    • Anonymous

      Exactly. The number of desktops or laptops in a household may decrease, but they will never disappear.

    • Anonymous

      the number of desktops and laptops in a household will not decrease.

    • Guest

      In mature markets they could very well decrease as some end up using their smartphone or tablet for most of what they previously used their laptop for. Of course, a smartphone or tablet is really just another type of PC. So part of this is a semantic debate. But it does have real competitive implications since the companies who currently dominate PCs aren’t the ones who currently dominate smartphones or tablets.

    • Guest

      What blew up their mind was that, combined with their very low margins on PC. To me, the former is as much an opportunity as a threat. And the latter could be addressed by them running their PC more effectively, with few models and more innovation. Bradley is solid, but even he needs to step it up.

  • Penta2100

    Is beats xtill going to be included in the tablet?

  • phil jay

    The devices get smaller, but you’ll still have big screens and keyboards and mouse, that makes a pc

    • Guest

      actually, just a processor, storage, screen, and input/output device used for personal computing makes a PC. MS understood that a decade ago. Unfortunately they blew their lead in tablets and smartphones. But ultimately that’s where it’s going. So they may have a chance of coming back. It’s only Apple who is pushing this post PC drivel, and even that’s new since when iPhone was first announced, one of the key marketing points was that it used OS X.

  • Anonymous

    So happy HP is sticking around with PC’s.  I have always liked them and their Business class laptops are great.  I have had 2 in 6 years( we are on a 3 year cycle at work) and they are workhorses that never let me down.  I also liked the WebOS tablets – but now with the W8 software on that nice piece of hardware…..I can  only hope this will be a winner.

  • http://www.timacheson.com/ Tim Acheson

    Good call by HP.

    I suspect HP’s epiphany has something to do with a new understanding of the PC. For instance, a tablet running Windows IS a PC. Believe me, I know, I own one.TV ad breaks and glossy magazines are not full of marketing for Windows tablets, but that doesn’t alter the fact that they’re far more useful than iPads or Android tablets.

  • http://www.rwalrond.com RWalrond

    Glad to see HP is back on the wagon. They needed to get the webOS, I want to be like Apple thing out of their system. If they can get Win8 on my $99 touchpad, I might actually dust it off and use it.

    Welcome back HP.

    • Joe

      Throw Cyanogen mod 7.1 on there (Android). It’s made the dust magically disapear from my Touchpad.

    • Anonymous

      I’ll hold out for a real OS like W8.  Until then, WebOS is fine for a $99 device.

  • http://www.mainstreetchatham.com/ JimmyFal

    Post PC talk is a “distortion of reality”.

    • Anonymous

      it pure stupidity plus mean spirited reporting. it is sad Ed Bott is joining this kind of stupid talk.

    • Anonymous

      The new MSFT “Productivity Future Vision” video is a true post-PC reality. Not for 10-15 years yet.

  • Anonymous

    Oh look who is back! HP is it you!? Well good thing they fired that pathetic-Apotheker, just in time for you not to miss out for Windows 8 taking over tablet market.

  • http://twitter.com/pierrerv Pierre Venescar

    I don’t know what has gotten into HP in the first place trying to get their own tablet OS. that should’ve been their strategy in the first place.

    • Tuxplorer

      This WOULD have been their strategy — but Microsoft didn’t have any tablet strategy until they announced Windows 8. With Windows 8, everything has changed, and so has HP.

  • http://www.geekchoice.com Dagmar Schneitz

    These things are getting smaller and smaller. PCs are like the movies, radio, and TV. They’re always going to be around. It’s good HP understands that. 

  • http://www.twitter.com/wixostrix WixosTrix

    “HP objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of spinning off PSG…”

    When you’re the leader of your respective industry, shouldn’t this be something you do first? Not say you’re going to do it, or thinking about doing it, and then determine if it’s a good idea.

  • Anonymous

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