It looks like the tablet market might be getting a whole lot smaller next year.
In a surprising move, computer maker powerhouses Hewlett-Packard and Dell are expected to cease all production of tablet computers in 2012. According to tech rumor website AppleInsider.com, the hardware manufacturers are unable to supply a streamlined pathway to content that other tablet makers such as Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble can provide, essentially closing them out of the market. Profits from the sale of content offset the cost of selling tablets at a loss, which almost all tablet makers but Apple are rumored to be doing. If consumers aren't buying their content directly from Dell or HP, there's no profit to be made. It's odd that Dell and HP didn't think that far ahead.
HP has already bowed out of the tablet game once, after trying to develop their own software ecosystem with WebOS. Originally developed by Palm, HP purchased WebOS in 2009 specifically to enter into the smartphone and tablet market. In August of this year, HP decided to shut down production of WebOS powered tablets, although the company still produces tablets that run Windows 7.
The decision by Dell and HP to get out of the tablet market could prove to be disastrous for Microsoft, who are hard at work on Windows 8, which is built heavily around the idea of being able to manipulate the interface by touch. Without these two companies making tablets, Microsoft might just have to build their own, which would put them in quite a bind. Apple has had 4 years to develop and hone the iTunes store to sell music, movie and applications directly to consumers through their Apple devices. Microsoft doesn't even have Windows 8 off the ground yet, and already they're playing catch-up.
This could also be seen as bad news for Google, as Dell produces many tablets that run the Android operating system. One less hardware vendor for Google means one less pathway to consumers.
