HP Not Interested in Smartphones with Palm Purchase

We suspected all along that the reason HP [HPQ] purchased Palm [PALM] was more to do with webOS than it was the Pre or Pixi although we had hoped to see a bit of a push in the webOS smartphone arena. HP has confirmed that smartphones are not the reason it purchased Palm though. The information comes from the HP CEO Mark Hurd who said…

We didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business. And I tell people that, but it doesn’t seem to resonate well. We bought it for the IP. The WebOS is one of the two ground-up pieces of software that is built as a web operating environment¦We have tens of millions of HP small form factor web-connected devices¦Now imagine that being a web-connected environment where now you can get a common look and feel and a common set of services laid against that environment. That is a very value proposition.

It’s a great move when looked at from this perspective. HP could add a lot of value by using webOS on their small devices. Obviously it isn’t clear how many (if any) of the older devices will get a look in at webOS although it will be good to see new devices get the operating system.

Via: Gizmodo