Hewlett-Packard to shun ARM Holdings at debut of Microsoft Windows 8

Hewlett-Packard said it will hold off selling tablets based on ARM Holdings technology when the next version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system debuts later this year.
Hewlett-Packard instead will focus on so-called x86 chips, such as those made by Intel, said Marlene Somsak, a spokeswoman for Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard. The decision is a boon for Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, the top makers of x86 chips.

It marks a setback for ARM, which from the outset won’t have its technology in Windows tablets sold by the largest maker of personal computers.

It also indicates Microsoft wasn’t able to get one of its biggest partners to line up behind a strategy of introducing multiple operating systems. “For them to say they’re skipping this is a big deal,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner.

“If they can’t get HP on board, that’s indicative of the fact that things are different and the old loyal partners can’t always be depended on.”

Microsoft plans to release its own ARM-based tablet, lessening the impact of losing HP as a maker of the devices. The decision “was influenced by input from our customers,” Somsak wrote in an e-mail. “The robust and established ecosystem of x86 applications provides the best customer experience at this time and in the immediate future.”