Samsung: We'll "Never" License HP's webOS
Samsung doesn't want HP's webOS platform, claims company CEO Choi Gee Sung. Ouch, that's gotta hurt.
To make sure that the entire industry is on the same page with Samsung, company CEO Choi Gee Sung clearly stated on Friday that Samsung will "never" license HP's webOS platform for smartphones and tablets. He made his anti-webOS stance during IFA in Berlin, Germany, noting that his South Korea-based company already has its own mobile OS.
"It’s not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion," Choi told reporters. He added that Samsung is currently working to boost Bada's software capabilities "harder than people outside think." Currently the in-house OS is slated to appear on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note and three additional Wave smartphones.
Based on Choi's comments, it appears that HP has one less prospect when it begins to properly shop webOS around to other manufacturers. Rumors of Samsung's possible interest in webOSsurfaced earlier this week after the company denied reports that it may purchase HP's PC division. But like the speculated PSG acquisition, Samsung apparently has no interest in what HP has to offer.
Last month HP discontinued its webOS-based tablets and smartphones, but the company claimed that a number of parties were still interested in licensing the software. Speculation currently points to HTC as a possible candidate, and there's also talk that Facebook needs to purchase (or at least license) webOS to better compete with Google and Apple. Naturally both have declined to comment on speculation.
Right now, HP is advertising its PC business as a possible $40B start-up company, separate from HP prime. HP has also stated that there's a strong future for the webOS platform, but as of this writing, its $1.2B software purchase has been put on hold. The TouchPad tablet is slated to make another run at retail shelves for one last hurrah at the cheap $99 and $149 price points, but its brief popularity only indicates that consumers know a good bargain.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
-
legacy7955 Does anyone on the HP BoD have the balls to try and get Leo Apotheker fired?Reply
I think he will go down as the man that destroyed HP. -
tokencode Because they all want money, they make money off of users of their services and they've begun to step on each other's toes. Google is directly going after Facebook with Google+, moron analysts who have no clue about technology decide that Facebook going after Android is a way to compete. If HP who makes the hardware couldn't make WebOS work, Facebook's effort to compete with Android, iOS, WP7 and soon to be Windows 8, would most definitely would result in a face-plant.Reply -
acadia11 One OS to rule them all, and that will be windows 8. The world will be set right again.Reply -
junixophobia yep, windows rules in catering to virus, no doubt about it...Reply
On a related topic, I hope that in all this cut throat competition, we buyers will end up with better hardware and a much better offer (+++freebees) -
liveonc acadia11One OS to rule them all, and that will be windows 8. The world will be set right again.Reply
So there's gonna be a midget running around with a tablet dangling on a noose around his neck, trying SO hard NOT to use it, because someone will know & send undead wraiths to try to kill him if he does? ;-) -
cookoy you got to give Samsung some credit for putting in lots of work on improving Bada. Whether that's a smart or dumb move, that's for future analysts to comment based on hindsight. i wonder how much work Nokia put into improving Symbian before giving up. or was it a one man's decision to dump it?Reply -
junixophobia I saw a few years back a documentary statement by one of the founder of symbian. He said that telephone and computers will not merge. It will be separate like the palm OS and the Nokia first generation phone...Reply
Right there I already know that they are doomed. -
oneblackened legacy7955Does anyone on the HP BoD have the balls to try and get Leo Apotheker fired?I think he will go down as the man that destroyed HP.Nope, that would be our good friend Mark Hurd. Got rid of almost all the innovation the company ever had and knocked quality into the shitter.Reply -
bustapr leo dug the hole even deeper. they need a new CEO with good ideas. Leo hasnt been in the chair long, he purchased a doomed company with a fairly unpopular os for big money. And he failed marketing and innovating it, just as Palm did. They need a CEO that does things right.Reply