HP purchased Palm in April 2010 in a $1.2 billion acquisition that finalized in June of that year. Even though Palm was struggling, the tech community that HP had the resources to lift WebOS off the ground. HP's intention was to further develop the WebOS platform, continue to release Pre smartphones and expand the platform to other products, including tablets and printers. In February 2011, right before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, HP held a large media event where it unveiled the HP Veer 4G, the HP Pre 3 and the HP Touchpad, the first WebOS tablet.

The was fairly unremarkable--basically a shrunken down Pre--but a decent phone. The Pre 3 seemed promising, but unfortunately never came to market (and probably never will given today's announcement). The most buzz surrounded the Touchpad and again, it seemed like it could take on Apple's market leader. The tablet seemed like an ideal medium for WebOS, with its fluid graphics and gesture-based controls.

But it was the Pre all over again when HP finally launched the Touchpad five months after the announcement. The Touchpad was met with for its buggy, slow performance, poor app selection and clunky hardware. My colleague Melissa Perenson gave it a harsh, but deserved rating of 2.5 stars noting that it "ships with some rough, buggy spots in its software, hobbled features that need a fix through a later over-the-air update, and a lack of compelling apps..."

Don't Blame the OS

The headline for this article is perhaps is a bit misleading. Really, it wasn't WebOS that failed, but a combination of other factors like marketing, hardware and app development. The biggest mistake both HP and Palm made was announcing an unfinished product six months before its launch. It is a huge risk in the fast-moving mobile world. WebOS's failure is a sad story, but one that other tech companies--especially those in the mobile space--can learn from.