Amaya Toman The HP (Hewlett-Packard) and Apple brands were most of the time perceived as completely different and operating separately. However, the combination of these two famous names happened, for example, at the beginning of January 2004, when a new product was presented at the traditional consumer electronics fair CES in Las Vegas - a player called Apple iPod + HP. What is the story behind this model?
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The prototype of the device, presented at the fair by the CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina, had a blue color that was characteristic of the HP brand. However, by the time the HP iPod hit the market later that year, the device already wore the same shade of white as the regular one iPod.
A truly diverse range of iPods came out of Apple's workshop:
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At first glance, it might seem that the collaboration between Hewlett-Packard and Apple came like a bolt from the blue. However, the paths of the two companies were continuously intertwined, even before Apple itself was created. Steve Jobs once worked as an intern at Hewlett-Packard, at the age of only twelve. HP also employed Steve Wozniak while working on the Apple-1 and Apple II computers. A little later, a number of very capable experts moved to Apple from Hewlett-Packard, and it was also the HP company from which Apple bought the land in the Cupertino campus years ago. However, it became clear relatively soon that cooperation on the player does not have the best future.
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Steve Jobs was never a big fan of licensing, and iPod + HP was the only time Jobs licensed the official iPod name to another company. In 2004, Jobs backed away from his radical view that iTunes Music Store should never be available on a computer other than a Mac. Over time, the service expanded to Windows computers. However, HP was the only manufacturer to ever even get its own variant of the iPod.
Included in the deal was iTunes pre-installed on all HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario computers. In theory, it was a win for both companies. HP gained a unique selling point, while Apple could further expand its market with iTunes. This allowed iTunes to reach places like Walmart and RadioShack where Apple computers were not sold. But some experts have pointed out that this is actually a very smart move by Apple to ensure that HP does not install the Windows Media Store on its computer.
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HP did acquire the HP-branded iPod, but soon after Apple upgraded its own iPod—making the HP version obsolete. Steve Jobs had to face criticism for "letting down" HP's management and shareholders with this move. In the end, the iPod + HP didn't turn out to be much of a sales hit. In late July 2009, HP terminated its agreement with Apple, although it was contractually obligated to install iTunes on its computers until January 2006. It eventually launched its own Compaq audio player, which also failed to take off.
