say analysts:HP's tablet exit no signal of iPad immunity

A project is underway to port Android to the HP TouchPad, but that’s not the best way to go. I would rather see an Android Player written to let Android apps runs natively in webOS on the HP tablet.
Harvey Norman has solved the problem of its leftover stock of HP's discontinued TouchPad tablet. The retailer giant offered a fire sale of the tablets at only $99 and within hours Harvey Norman had virtually sold out of its leftover stock.
Hewlett-Packard's departure from the tablet business does not mean that Apple's iPad will remain the undisputed king, analysts said today.

"WebOS was never going to be an iPad killer," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "It did have a chance at the enterprise market, but it was never going to challenge the iPad's very strong position in the consumer tablet space."
The situation of the HP TouchPad has been nothing short of bizarre, with reports of dozens lining up outside retailers to buy one of the HP tablets now reduced in price to as little as $99. New buyers of the TouchPad are contacting me by the dozens looking for tips and tricks to get the most out of them.
Hewlett Packard's troubled TouchPad had only been available in Harvey Norman stores a week ago on Monday but it has since been heavily discounted with the 16Gb version being sold for $99 and the 32Gb being sold for only $149. HP confirmed that the TouchPad will be sold at the discounted prices through Harvey Norman and HP's online stores as long as stocks last.
On Thursday, HP announced that it would stop making tablets and smartphones powered by webOS, the operating system it acquired when it bought Palm last year for $1.2 billion. The move -- just weeks after HP started selling its TouchPad tablet -- caught most analysts by surprise.

But it's not a signal that Apple will retain its current position as the leading tablet seller: HP's webOS was simply too small a player -- and likely to remain so -- to affect Apple.As popular as the TouchPad seems to be since getting killed off by HP, it still is being supported by them for the foreseeable future. While most developers are leaving their apps in the App Catalog, there is no guarantee all of them will do so. There is not a big selection of apps available for the TouchPad as it is, and there will not be any new ones developed for a dead product.

Some developers are picking up the now cheap TouchPad with the intention of porting Android to the tablet. The thought must be to bring Android with its access to thousands of apps to the TouchPad. This project is just getting underway and I will watch it to see how fast it progresses.
Harvey Norman stores across the country started offering the discounted TouchPad this afternoon. The retailer tipped off consumers via Twitter and within an hour gadget lovers looking for a good bargain had carted off much of the retailer's stock.
Chris Connery, an analyst with DisplaySearch, sees the tablet race as even tighter, one between Google and Apple with Microsoft's ability to join the fight still unproven. "Tablets are a two-OS space right now," said Connery. "HP came to the conclusion quite quickly that there wasn't room for three."

Both Gottheil and Connery said that HP's euthanasia of webOS tablets is not a signal that precludes others, especially Google, from challenging or even surpassing Apple.

"There are things Apple just won't do," said Gottheil. "It won't create as wide an array of [tablet] form factors as will Android tablet makers. And it won't compete on the very low end, simply because of [compromises] it won't make."This Android Player would be an Android emulator that runs as an app on the TouchPad desktop. It should give access to finding and installing Android apps as if written natively for the TouchPad. One Android app could be run at a time in a single task card that could be minimized as desired. This would allow Android apps to run alongside webOS apps on the TouchPad, which would be very, very cool.

I suspect that even though the TouchPad has been cancelled by HP, quite a few of existing owners would shell out big bucks for such an emulator. My guess is the first developer to do this could make some pretty decent coin for the TouchPad Android Player. I also think HP would find webOS to be a much more compelling product to shop around if it could run Android apps.