HP: -20.03%

A Fool Looks Back

If you want to read Hewlett-Packard's (NYS: HPQ) Palm, you'd better hurry.

HP announced on Thursday that it will discontinue the TouchPad tablet that it released only last month. There were already rumored reports of unsold HP tablets collecting dust at consumer-electronics stores, and last week's 20% price cut seemed more than just a little desperate.

The future of Palm's webOS is now clearly in doubt. If folks don't want a webOS tablet at $399, will they ever want to tie themselves a webOS smartphone for at least two years? HP is scrapping webOS development -- for now.

Whose idea was it to spend $1 billion on Palm again?

HP shares tumble on Autonomy bid

Shares in Hewlett-Packard have fallen sharply on news that it is buying UK software firm Autonomy and may sell its PC business.

HP's future plans also include no longer selling smartphones and tablet computers and refocusing on selling software.

HP shares fell 20% in Friday trading to close at $23.58.