As reported on FierceMobileIT, HP (NYSE: HPQ) announced last week that it is killing off its webOS devices business in a dramatic reversal of its initial move to acquire Palm, the maker of webOS, for $1.2 billion 16 months ago.

In a cruel twist, the death sentence and subsequent price reduction--from $399 to $99 for the 16GB TouchPad and $499 to $149 for the 32GB version--have sparked a fire sale.

In fact, TouchPads are reportedly selling for almost $300 on eBay, according to PCWorld, as consumers scramble to get a cheap and portable web browser (or two) for coffee tables across the nation.

As HP decided to quit the tablet market, newly released figures from In-Stat estimated that worldwide shipments of tablets will approach 250 million come 2017. As expected, iOS and Android devices are pegged to secure the lion's share of the market.

On the flip side, companies that do not support one of the leading OS platforms will face demise "due to lack of application support," according to In-Stat, which basically sums up what happened to HP's webOS.

For more:
- check out this article at eWeek
- check out this article at CNET News

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