Tablet Market Contender: Hewlett-Packard
HP is currently marketing its Windows 7-based Slate 500 tablet after supply line delays last November caused HP to suspend Slate 500 shipments for six weeks. However, in an interview with Fortune on April 24, CEO Leo Apotheker said HP has no plans to launch any new Windows 7 tablets, and that the company will pursue an exclusive WebOS strategy in the near future. Apotheker's WebOS commitment is one of the most significant statements he's made since taking over as HP's chief executive.
Meanwhile, HP in April launched its TouchPad tablet, which runs the WebOS platform HP acquired last year along with handset manufacturer Palm. HP and Apple alone offer devices that run their own operating systems on their own hardware. The HP TouchPad tablet PC features a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 9.7-inch diagonal capacitive multitouch display, Wi-Fi wireless connectivity, Adobe Flash Player support, either 16 GBs or 32 GBs of internal storage, and a single front-facing camera.
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