Digital Home Thoughts: HP's Apple Obligation Ends - Does Anyone Care?

"Hewlett Packard's deal with Apple, requiring HP to bundle iTunes with its PCs, will lapse in January. HP says it plans to pursue a new digital entertainment strategy in 2006, but isn't telling what that strategy will look like. Business Week reports that there has already been some "cozying up" between HP and Microsoft, and suggests that HP will once again become a "chess piece," although not a very powerful one, in Microsoft's efforts to beat Apple in the music and digital media markets. Ah, what a tangled weave these companies weave."

HP's ill-fated "me too" effort with the sale of iPods is coming to a close, and I can't say I'm at all surprised by the results. When I bought my HP laptop and it had iTunes installed, the first thing I did was uninstall it. There's simply no natural synergy between HP and Apple, and this whole effort was forced at best. I'm sure that Apple won't mourn the loss of HP as a partner, but maybe HP will surprise us by coming out with a great audio player of their own...though probably not.