Hewlett-Packard is pushing back the release of its Android tablet to the end of the year, in an attempt to focus resources on its upcoming WebOS project.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, which is also simultaneously developing tablets running Palm’s WebOS andMicrosoft’s Windows 7 software, is reconsidering its multi-operating system strategy, people familiar with the matter said.
HP has instead decided to concentrate efforts on its WebOS project, code-named Hurricane, which its new Palm unit is developing. That tablet is rumored to have a fall release date.
“We’re going to increase R&D spending on WebOS,” Jim Burns, HP’s vice president of Investor Relations, said at a conference call after acquiring Palm. “We’re going to take this platform, which today exists for smartphones only, and make it much broader than that.”
In January, HP unveiled a 10-inch tablet called Slate, which was powered by Windows 7, but “serious problems” with poor performance and a hefty weight prevented its launch. A few months later, the company acquired Palm for $1.2 billion and shifted its attention to WebOS.