"Even though it's HP, popularity with a tablet or other product is determined by your predecessors, and WebOS didn't really catch on," Llamas said in an interview. "By comparison, iPad is a derivative of , and now we have PlayBook coming from BlackBerry. But WebOS? Not so much. WebOS traces back to the Pre and Pixi, and the fact was that picked up those phones."

HP's strong reputation with servers and printers will not matter with WebOS, Llamas said. "If you take a look at what HP wants to do with WebOS, HP is big on [saying it will have] a lot of money for marketing," Llamas said. "Well, congrats, but where's the distribution [operation] and where's your customers?"

Llamas said he examined many tablets introduced at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week but didn't find any clear winners. "A lot of companies said they had tablets, but it was usually just another company waving a banner," he said. "Until a strong brand comes out with a tablet that's well differentiated, there's not a lot of real standouts."

Having a strong brand behind a new tablet will matter because the field of tablets is so large and the category is relatively new, meaning the winners will be those that first get the attention of buyers, Llamas said.

"A strong brand has helped Apple over the years, even through but brand only works so far," Llamas said. "Brand is a big piece [of ultimate success], but not the only piece. In an early market like tablets, having a strong brand helps."