According to the AppleInsider, it looks like HP stopping to sell iPods was only the first step as it moves to distance itself further from Apple. It appears now that HP will stop bundling iTunes on its consumer computer lineups by the end of the year. Instead, HP could be looking to going with Microsoft and its Windows Media Player technology. According to HP’s original agreement with Apple, it will not be able to offer an alternative music player until August 2006 and it remains unclear if it will even do so at that time.
HP’s strategy appears to be to focus on digital printing and imaging. So where does that leave its televisions, home-cinema digital projectors and digital entertainment centers? Could they meet with the same fate as the HP iPod from Apple?