Analyst: Windows 8 may not be enough to save HP
Summary: HP is in trouble, and the company can't rely on Windows 8 -- whether installed on desktop, notebook, tablets, ultrabooks, or convertibles -- to help dig itself out of the deep hole the company is in.
As HP prepares itself for a tough 2013, the company cannot count on Windows 8 to help smooth the way.
This warning comes from Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu, who has downgraded the company from a buy to neutral rating amid fears that the things could be worse for the electronics and services giant.
"After spending more thought post its analyst day where the company surprisingly lowered its FY13 outlook more than expected," writes Wu. "We have lower confidence in its turnaround strategy". He predicts "further downside surprises" to HP's core PCs, printers, services, and enterprise hardware businesses.
While many PC OEMs are hoping that Windows 8 -- due to hit PCs around the world on October 26 -- will help to boost flagging PC sales, Wu believes that it is far too premature to start celebrating. First, Wu points out that the PC business as a whole is facing encroachment from lower-cost mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. HP specifically will face stiff competition from the likes of Asus, Acer, and soon-to-be market leader Lenovo.
Another obstacle facing HP specifically -- but also PC OEMs in general -- is confusion over which of the new Windows 8 inspired form factors will sell. The influx of Windows 8-powered tablets, ultrabooks, and convertibles suggest OEMs confidence in the new platform, but these are entirely unproven.
HP has already showcased a number of Windows 8 PCs, including four new 'All-in-One' systems ranging in price from $1,299 for the HP Spectre One, to $499 for the Pavilion 20.
Then there's pressure from Apple's iPad, which has already been out for several years, sold millions of units, and is already widely used in enterprise environments. It is unclear whether Apple's 70 percent dominance of the current tablet market leaves an opening for Windows 8.
Concerns have been raised by Raluca Budiu, a user experience specialist with Nielsen Norman Group, that the new Windows 8 user interface -- previous called Metro but now renamed Modern UI by Microsoft -- is "confusing" and imposes "a cognitive burden" on users. This claim alone should act as a warning to anyone thinking of putting Windows 8 in the hands of thousands of users in an environment where you expect people to get real work done. Training costs could eclipse the costs of deploying Windows 8, and offset any savings that the new operating system might offer.
Image source: HP.
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Talkback
Releasing an iMac isnt going to help either.
Also, the iPad has only been out for three-ish years. Not "several".
The screens will determine the winners....
From using an ASUS transformer TF300 over the past few months, I'm convinced that users will take to the touchscreen experience, but they will do so only if their LCD monitors are mounted on a swing arm that allows the monitor to be easily pulled toward the user and set at an angle so that the whole thing resembles a big iPad resting on stand. The monitor should just as easily slide back to be positioned like a traditional monitor when keyboard input is more appropriate.
I can't emphasize how much I prefer scrolling in web pages with my fingers over even a scroll wheel on a mouse, even when my TF300 is docked in the keyboard dock. It helps, of course, that this thing's basically a netbook, and I can rest my elbow on the table while doing it. it would be a far less pleasant experience, no doubt, if I had to keep my arm extended in from of me the whole time.
And perhaps therein lies the problem
Flailing->failing
Depends...
There are plenty of tasks for which a touchscreen is ideally suited and could make one more productive.
I have been thinking about this also
Years ago I was at a Lazy-boy store and they had a coffee table with a swing up top that tilted. Flat for food tilted for reading or writing. At the time I thought this would be cool for a pc screen. It would be perfect for a Win8 pc
To best use a large touch screen it needs to be positioned like it is in your lap and your chair will need arm rests. Small tablets can go in your lap, over 12-13 inches will need support.
I don't create I just consume and I hate to type so I could do away with the keyboard but for some content creation it would be back to a classic desktop layout.
................calfee
Where are HP's killer designs?
I see a lawsuit with this one
I'm surprised people are still talking about Win8
A PC company with no new ideas, relying on an OS chasing the leader.
Press releases and red ink. Good work team.
Has nothing to do with Win8, PCs or desktops
If it's not right, then HP will completely disintegrate, and it won't take long to happen.
HP cant blame W8 for it's failure. It's been underway for years
they screwed themselves when
screen fail
WINDOWS 8 WONT EVEN SAVE MICROSOFT....
Doubt it
But if Office subscriptions don't take off, because they raised the prices on physical media it can hurt there bottom line in that dept..
A "cognitive burden" no less!
The Metro interface is no different. Nothing in business happens overnight but Windows 8 will make it into the enterprise. Initially, it will be in the hands of decision-makers, middle-managers, and road-warriors who are tired of trying to get their iPads to peacefully co-exist with their Windows notebooks but, as soon as the IT department realizes that if it runs on Windows 7, it will run on Windows 8, we will see that change.
THE ONLY CHANGE WE'RE GOING TO SEE IS A WORLD WITHOUT WINDOWS...
With Cloud and Mobile computing gaining wide adoption with both consumers and the Enterprise, the need for consumers and businesses to spend billions of dollars each year supporting Microsoft's horrible software are numbered.
Analysts are already saying that HP stock should really be MINUS 2 bucks. This will eventually be the fate of all M$ partners, until Windows is just a distant and "legacy" relic of our computing past.
Many of the so called
I am pretty certain Microsoft's demise (which has been predicted for over 20 years) won't happen in the next twenty years either.
The fact if the matter is that despite their "horrible" software, the competition isn't really been considered, it is hillarious to suggest they are being contested by tablets and smartphones, of which the market leader (Android) also brings in quite a bit of revenue for the redmonians, because Google likes to steal stuff and not license the IP.
Why don't you go back to troll school, and get a new line of attack,
If any of what you and the other trolls were in any way close to the truth, Microsoft must have closed shop some 10 years ago, but, I keep hearing about them, and about how they're constantly coming out with new software and updated software and gaming systems and now, they're even coming out with new tablets of their own. So, I must be imagining things, since, Microsoft has been dead and buried since more than 10 years ago.
It's very likely that, you'll still be making the same silly and ignorant attacks some 80 years from now, if you're still alive, and Microsoft and most people will have continued ignoring you and your fellow trolls.
RE: Why don't you go back to troll school, and get a new line of attack,
Jettison The PC Business