HP bought Palm for $1.2B to get webOS — then killed the tablet in 49 days

In 2010, HP acquired Palm for $1.2 billion, primarily to acquire webOS, Palm's mobile operating system. HP planned to use webOS across its entire product line — phones, tablets, printers and PCs — creating a unified ecosystem to compete with Apple and Google.

The HP TouchPad, the first webOS tablet, launched in July 2011 to mediocre reviews. It was underpowered, had a limited app ecosystem and was priced at $499 — the same as the iPad 2, which had a vastly superior app library. Sales were disappointing.

On August 18, 2011 — just 49 days after the TouchPad's launch — HP announced it was discontinuing all webOS devices. The remaining TouchPad inventory was fire-sold for $99, creating a brief frenzy. HP later open-sourced webOS. The case illustrated how a company can acquire a platform and then abandon it before giving it a chance to succeed, and how a 49-day product lifespan destroys more value than the acquisition cost.