Over the last few weeks, there has been speculation that Palm was accepting buy-out offers and one of the companies rumored to be offering, or at least thinking of offering, was HTC. It made sense for HTC to acquire Palm's vast IP portfolio. Currently embroiled in a patent infringement lawsuit with Apple, owning all of the patents currently owned by Palm would be a great weapon for HTC. However, it seems HTC is not interested.
Citing people with knowledge of the situation, Reuters reports that HTC was approached about making a bid but decided to pass after reviewing Palm's books. Lenovo is now said to be the front-runner for acquiring Palm.
However, Palm's CEO Jon Rubinstein has said he thinks the company can still operate independently. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Rubinstein said, "Palm can survive as an independent company. We have a plan that gets us to profitability."
Rubinstein did say that the board would have to consider a reasonable offer if it was presented to them but he seems confident that the company can pull itself back up. The CEO even said the company may let other mobile manufacturers use its WebOS operating system to boost revenue.
