Sprint may be dropping webOS support completely

One of the first U.S. carriers to support webOS may soon be dropping it altogether.

According to tech blog Thisismynext, a trusted source says HP currently has no future plans to bring any webOS devices to the Sprint network. Additionally, Sprint will not even be carrying the HP Pre 3 even when it was originally the exclusive carrier of the original Palm Pre that launched the webOS platform back in 2009.

No explanation was given as to why Sprint and HP may be breaking up, but the blog points out that Sprint wasn’t too happy with the sales of webOS-based phones. A second and more probable reason may be due to the increasing popularity of Android-based devices. As the third largest carrier in the United States, Sprint could be deciding to shift resources and focus to marketing Android devices instead.

In terms of webOS tablets, HP only currently offers the recently released TouchPad. While there is at present a $50 rebate for Pre and Pixi owners, a 4G-enabled TouchPad could be unlikely for Sprint if these rumors prove to be true. A 4G model may be on the way regardless, however, but may be for the AT&T network instead.

Last we heard, HP is still planning on releasing the webOS operating system to as many different devices as possible. Unfortunately for HP, the company is going to face an uphill battle with heavyweights Android and iOS regardless of whether or not Sprint will be one of its supporters.

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