New York — The world’s largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard on Thursday disclosed that it has wrapped up its US$1.2 billion acquisition of Palm and confirmed it will use the company’s WebOS in future tablets and netbooks.
The US$1.2 billion deal was originally disclosed on April 28 and followed by reports and expectations that HP would extend the operating system beyond Palm’s Pre and Pixi handset product lines to larger form factors. In its statement on the deal Thursday, HP indicated in that direction. “Palm will be responsible for WebOS software development and WebOS-based hardware products, from a robust smartphone roadmap to future slate PCs and netbooks,” the statement said.
Thus, the company stated that: “The deal awards the Palo Alto-based firm an important headway into the smartphone market thanks to Palm’s innovative webOS platform and family of smartphones, plus a rich portfolio of intellectual property from the smartphone pioneer,” HP said in a statement.
“With webOS, HP will deliver its customers a unique and compelling experience across smartphones and other mobility products,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “This allows us the opportunity to fully engage in growing our smartphone family offering and the footprint of webOS.”
HP demonstrated a tablet called the Slate, running Windows 7, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January. Since then it has released additional details about the future device but reportedly dropped Windows 7 from its plans.
The Palm business unit will report to Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP’s Personal Systems Group. The company said it will help it compete in a $100 billion market for smartphones and connected mobile devices.
Former Palm chairman and chief executive Jon Rubinstein and the Palm global business unit will report to Bradley. Going forward, Palm was a pioneer in the hand-held computer business with its Palm Pilot devices and in smartphones with the Treo line. But it fell behind Apple, Research In Motion and other rivals during the lengthy development of WebOS and the Palm Pre, which debuted last year. In February, the company started seeking a buyer in earnest after it became clear its revenue was falling short of expectations.
“With HP’s full backing and global strengths, I’m confident that webOS will be able to reach its full potential,” said Rubinstein. “This agreement will accelerate the development of this incredible platform with new resources, scale and support from a world-respected brand.”