Printed from  HP concedes to Apple: 'the tablet effect is real'
updated 05:25 pm EDT, Thu August 18, 2011  HP validates rumors
of TouchPad sales  HP as part of its spinoff talk for PCs made
an uncommon remark that the iPad had fundamentally changed its
business. CEO Leo Apotheker said that tablets were directly
responsible for the company looking to possibly exit consumer
PCs. The process would take 12 to 18 months, but the company was
considering a shift now with neither the TouchPad nor
traditional PCs providing an immediate fix.  "There is a clear
movement in the consumer PC space," Apotheker said. "The tablet
effect is real. The TouchPad is not gaining enough traction in
the marketplace. Our PC business needs the flexibility to make
its own decisions."  He added that webOS' hardware shutdown
would wrap up in the fall.  The company's CFO commented that it
had made a "bet" on webOS and had set targets for it to sell
well. It had planned to make webOS the second-strongest platform
in tablets behind Apple. L