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Who Should Buy WebOS? [Vote]

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HP dropped a bomb today, announcing that the company will discontinue WebOS Devices including the TouchPad and WebOS mobile devices.

The news comes right ahead of the HP earnings call and after numerous HP TouchPad price cuts and reports of unsold stock taking up too much shelf space at Best Buy.

It’s a bit surprising to see HP cutting off support for WebOS so soon after launching the TouchPad, and relatively shortly after spending $1.2 Billion in april 2010 to pick up Palm.

HP quickly said that the company would double down on WebOS, but failed to capitalize on the growth of mobile devices. HP is also having a tough time in the PC business and has announced that it will explore options regarding the personal computer business.

WebOS isn’t Done Yet

While HP has effectively killed off WebOS in HP products, the company hasn’t closed up shop and put WebOS in the dumpster out back. Like any recent buyer, the company is exploring options to recover some of the $1.2 Billion investment.

In a release announcing the news, HP stated that, “HP will continue to explore options to optimize the value of WebOS software going forward.”

Essentially, WebOS isn’t dead, but it needs to be sold or licensed to manufacturers the way Google’s Android operating system is.

Because HP paid so much licensing may be their best bet, but an outright sale makes more sense for the potential buyers — if the price is right.

Who Should Buy WebOS?

RIM – Research in Motion is already in the process of switching over to the QNX operating system for upcoming BlackBerry smartphones, but the company is still hasn’t seen big sales of the QNX powered PlayBook tablet.

While WebOS doesn’t have a killer track record, if RIM can get past the company’s inability to capitalize on opportunities WebOS could make a good fit for the company.

HTC – HTC is probably the most likely buyer if HP were to put WebOS up for sale. Given Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility, HTC may be wary of the future of the Android platform for licensing companies.

HTC makes killer hardware, and could pair this with WebOS to deliver a smattering of WebOS phones and tablets. There would be a delay between purchase and delivery, but I believe HTC could make magic happen with WebOS. across mobile platforms.

Samsung – Another potential suitor would be Samsung. The South Korean company is also known for making some top-notch Android smartphones, and was left out in the cold with Google’s Motorola Purchase.

Samsung is already putting more effort into the Bada operating system, which it hopes to load on smartphones as well as feature phones. If the company picked up WebOS, it would have a more mature operating system on hand to tailor to the hardware.

Why Buy WebOS

The real reason why one of these companies should be interested in picking up WebOS is to compete with Apple by owning the software and the hardware that make up a mobile product. When running Android, both Samsung and HTC have to deal with the wait for Google to deliver features and updates. By bringing the OS in-house and marrying it to the hardware there is a higher potential for great things.

When it comes down to it, HTC makes the most sense as a suitor, with Samsung in second. RIM could benefit from the deal, but management there doesn’t seem capable of making a big decision like this without messing it up.

HTC has an estimated $3-5 billion in cash, which means if HP were looking to sell WebOS, the company could afford to buy.

[poll id=”11″]

11 Comments

11 Comments

  1. HildyJ

    08/18/2011 at 8:27 pm

    HP should donate WebOS to the Open Software Foundation for a tax write-off (to help pay those accounting costs from your hardware post. Turn it into a real mobile version of Linux.

  2. Mar

    08/18/2011 at 8:40 pm

    Its there Fault .. a lot of people were looking a all touch mobile phone for them.. they phone out the Veer, sad would have been a alternative to Android for me 

  3. Larry Mao

    08/18/2011 at 8:52 pm

    Google should buy WebOS. Why? Google can Open Source WebOS, integrate it into Android and keep it alive, bigger and better than ever.

    • Vance Heredia

      08/18/2011 at 11:46 pm

      I agree,

      It makes no sense for handset manufacturers to purchase webOS as there is no ecosystem (and they cannot maintain one either) that comes with it.  Samsung already has its BADA OS and the eco-system is tiny.

      It makes sense for Google to acquire the patents, UI/UX knowledge and the apps and media frameworks that webOS is so renowned for.

      Android is good, but webOS would bring a lot of polish to really make it compelling.  I also wonder if it would help them with some of the patent licensing issues they currently face on android.

      MS would be another one I would think would look at acquiring the knowledge.

      RIM == RIP

      MM

  4. JP

    08/18/2011 at 9:20 pm

    Bad news, guys.  HP is going to keep webOS and use it for printers and business appliances.  Its days as a general purpose smartphone/tablet OS are done.

    • Mad monkey

      08/18/2011 at 11:48 pm

      really?  Geez that is a big let down for a $1.2B investment.

      Also a massive change over of existing capability

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