Whitman is an idiot, with no skills for leading a company like HP. She's in the driver's seat, because the board of Directors in all it's infinite wisdom believe they can control her. Problem is, the board can't agree what to do, so Whitman won't get anything done. It's like congress right now. If she were the CEO HP needed, she'd simply admit to the mistakes of her predecessor, and revive the company's previously profitable direction. Imagine that, a CEO admitting a mistake was made, then reversing course. If she could pull it off, she'd be hailed as a savior, and Leo would be demonized like Fiorina. If she just walked away from fixing a much smaller company, what kind of dedication or skill can they really expect from her?
I'm ashamed to admit that I bought HP stock prior to the release of the touchpad, because I believed in the product. I believed it would be a big success. After having one for a few weeks, I can see why it didn't blow up the market, but it's hardly unsalvageable. Mostly, it's a bland product, but if the money they should have spent on R&D went to marketing it creatively, and courting developers, it would have been a moderate success, setting the stage for a second, better built device.
The Kindle Fire is unimpressive hardware wise, yet Amazon managed to drum up a huge buzz, and were smart enough to price it low. HP's arrogance led them to believe the touchpad should automatically be entitled to a #2 status under the iPad (and at a similar price), just because it had the HP name. What did they really *think* would happen? They over estimate their brand, significantly. Who really even owns a webos phone? Can you think of a single webos phone that's been advertised a lot? Instead, they should have priced it at cost, or a loss, and made money on the their App Catalog to break even. Use the first device to build the market, then sell a better product later for more money. They didn't have the hordes of idevice owners waiting with bated breath to shell out a small fortune for what should have been marketed as an entry level entertainment device.