14 DAY TRIAL // During an interview at Hewlett Packard’s Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas, the company’s SVP of Solutions Partners Organization lashed out at Apple’s success with iOS, citing the iPhone maker’s lack of partner commitment as ‘absurd.’
HP is known to be planning major investments in training partners to support WebOS development.
HP's Stephen DeWitt believes this is the way to go, despite Apple’s success with the iOS platform.
"Apple's relationship with partners is transactional, completely. Apple doesn’t have an inclusive philosophy of partner capabilities, and that's just absurd," DeWitt said on Monday at HP's Americas Partner Conference in Las Vegas, according to CRN.com.
HP’s partner-oriented approach is regarded as a successful business, according to one solutions provider that has worked with both HP and Apple.
"Unlike Apple, HP is very channel friendly. And if you have an issue with HP you can pick up the phone and talk to someone,” the source said. “That's something that's impossible with Apple. As an Apple partner, I can say that it really feels like they're holding you hostage sometimes.”
Although clearly determined to make a change, DeWitt admits their ambitious plans with WebOS might not gain momentum just yet.
Yet, he is confident things will pick up once HP convinces enough partners to go their way.
"This will bring new partners to us because we are getting into the application space, which involves muscles that we haven't exercised in some time," he said.
"This is new business for our partners, and its new business for HP, and we're going to learn where we need to invest."
For now, iOS and Android remain the primary platforms targeted by developers looking to make a buck in the mobile space.
And while developers and investors alike may feel constrained by the particularities posed by Apple’s and Google’s ecosystems, profitability remains the key factor in convincing folks to jump ship.