UPDATED 09:32 EDT / JULY 12 2011

HP webOS: Restructuring May Just Be the Missing Element

Consumers are bombarded with the nonstop release of smartphones and tablets from different companies.  The public is now being more critical before buying any of these gadgets.  More consumers are considering the specs of the gadgets, rather than aesthetics alone.  We all know that Apple’s iPad is the thing to beat in terms of tablets, so companies are doing their best to topple them off their pedestal.

With the release of the HP’s TouchPad on the first day of July, the tablet has already received mixed reviews, especially around their OS.  WebOS wants to bring something fresh to the table. The TouchPad is set apart from the rest of the tablets as it utilized top-of-the-line hardware to make it more competitive in the market.

But HP is not stopping there.  They know that there are more aspects to be improved upon, and showing good faith to the public and investors indicates HP’s dedication to this webOS-tablet combo.  HP announced organizational changes, among other things, to increase the business side of their webOS and to also improve on their other product lines.  Aside from dropping the ‘Palm’ label on their tablets, Jon Rubinstein will be replaced by Stephen DeWitt to head the project.

The changes signal H-P’s intent to widen the unit’s scope, Mr. DeWitt said in an interview. He said the unit will have responsibility for things that formerly fit in other parts of H-P, such as printers that run the operating system, consulting services for businesses that want to run webOS devices, and a global sales force.

“We’re going big,” Mr. DeWitt said.

It seems that HP is following in the footsteps of other companies that shook things up, by changing the roster of their top executives in their attempt to become more commercially competitive.  Another company that’s restructured their top executives is Juniper Networks, recently adding Nawaf Bitar, Christopher Hoff, Bask Iyer and Martin J. Garvin who all came from different top companies.

Dell is also restructuring around its focused launch of their smartphones, while Cisco is set to announce the overhauling of their switching system – The Catalyst 6500.  On the other hand, Nokia and Microsoft are in talks about their partnership on how to make a comeback in the market, as Apple and Android smartphones have literally taken over.

There are a lot of ways to get consumers to notice you again, like partnerships, corporate restructuring or even overhauling existing products to make them more appealing.  But the most important thing in this business is timing.  If you make changes too early, others will watch you and learn from your mistakes; if you come in too late, whatever you worked on, others would have already released it – either way, you lose.  But if you launch the right product at the right time, it would just be like winning the lottery – simply awesome.


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