HP Buys Palm: A New Smartphone Superpower?
Well so much for Palm surviving as an independent company; HP has swooped in a snapped up the smartphone company for a cool $1.2 billion.
HP today announced that it has acquired Palm at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by both HP's and Palm's boards of directors and is expected to close during HP's third fiscal quarter which ends July 31.
"Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices," said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. "And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market."
So HP is stoked but what about Palm? It would seem the people at Palm are just as excited at the thought of a merger with HP, despite what CEO Jon Rubinstein said last week. In an interview with the Financial Times, Rubinstein said that while the board would definitely consider any serious offers to purchase the company, he was confident the company could prosper as an independent company. Rubinstein even said he had a plan to get Palm out of the red and into the black. "Palm can survive as an independent company," he said at the time. "We have a plan that gets us to profitability." In a statement today, Rubinstein said his company was "thrilled" about the deal with HP.
"We're thrilled by HP's vote of confidence in Palm's technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP's longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS," said Rubinstein. "We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners."
1.2 Billion. Damn..
Boo it's HP not HTC...
I love WebOS too, but I can't add it to my SERO plan. That, I am not too fond of the small Palm thumbboard, even though my Treo Pro has it. WebOS on an HTC Touch Pro 2 style phone would be ideal.
I hope HP comes out with a good variety of phones sporting this OS. I think its pretty evident that there are people who prefer no keyboard, the slide out side keyboard, and people who prefer the Palm style thumbboard. Its a good OS; mix it with good engineering and you can have a winner.
or integrated in the hp slate ?! hehe
Dell assembles pre-fabbed computer hardware. HP has a history of creating various products and technologies. Sure, they're now known mainly for their printers and desktops, but that's mostly the fault of their prior CEO (not sure if it was the same one busted for ordering the illegal spying of the board members or not). Anyway, the comparison is unfair.
That said, HP should have no problem continuing the Palm brand and infusing it with much needed technical and financial support.
Usually they try to make you pay for the bloatware. It is a "feature."
And or create a "light OS" for their laptops for minimal power drain on the go computing.
Wish i had Palm Stock today =\
LOL HP is worth double what Apple is (114.7 Billion vs 47 Billion).
All of our handhelds are going to suck now..Thanks HP.
HP will take what Palm has and create their own product from it, whether it's for phones, ultralight mobiles, or some other wireless / networking area.
Give it a few months, you skeptics might even be impressed.
Does HP have any idea what the customer wants? I actually like the concept of the Pre, I just don't have it available to me on Straight Talk... Otherwise I'd probably already have one.