Jon Rubinstein quits Hewlett-Packard
Former Palm chief says there could still be bright future for webOS, as he leaves turbulent period at HP behind him
Published: 30 January, 2012
READ MORE: People/Management | Hewlett-Packard | Handset | WebOS
Hewlett-Packard's decision to sideline webOS into an open source project was the final end of Jon Rubinstein's hopes of creating a second Apple, and the former iPod designer and Palm CEO has now left HP.
Rubinstein had a brief but bright period in the spotlight when he joined Palm to spearhead the firm's comeback with its webOS platform and accompanying Pre smartphone. He became CEO in 2009 and the market got a glimpse of the marketing and design skills he had acquired at Apple, at the high impact Pre launch events. But his fierce ambition to create an Apple-style hardware/software platform for the new, cloud-oriented age, soon fell foul of shipment delays, missteps at initial exclusive carrier Sprint, and the decline of the Palm brand.
When HP acquired Palm in 2010 in order to get its hands on webOS, Rubinstein was head of the devices division but got caught up in the rollercoaster ride that his platform endured under its new owner. He openly questioned CEO Leo Apotheker's desire to license webOS broadly and make it into a ubiquitous but deeply embedded system for all kinds of devices, rather than a visible consumer platform like iOS. This led to him being sidelined into the role of SVP for product innovation in the personal systems group, while Stephen DeWitt took over the helm of the mobile strategy. However, that strategy was quickly reversed when Apotheker decided to dump the Pre, the TouchPad tablets and even the OS itself. When he was replaced as CEO by Meg Whitman, she decided to exit smartphones, adopt Windows 8 as its main tablet platform, and put webOS into open source.
There is no news yet on where Rubinstein may turn up next but his departure was only a matter of time. He had indicated he would stay at HP for only 12-24 months after the Palm acquisition and he said in his own statement that he would now take a "much needed break" though his next moves were likely to be in mobile.
He commented: "What we accomplished in four and half years has been amazing. And I don't think people understand that .... It was an enormous amount of work for a large group of people for many, many years… Of course. I put blood, sweat, and tears into this thing. And look, I think it had tremendous potential, if people put some real effort into it, I think you will see a resurgence of devices at some point."
HP itself was less eloquent in its farewells. "Jon has fulfilled his commitment to HP. We wish him well," the company said in a statement.
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