The mobile phone industry was already aware that Palm was in dire financial trouble for quite some time. The company has seen not only rumors of a potential buy-out, but a list of interested buyers have also popped out. Taiwanese mobile device manufacturer HTC and computer maker Lenovo are among the top names that were interested in acquiring Palm’s technologies and patents, but a surprise move by HP surprised all –out of the blue, the company emerged as the buyer of Palm.
Before the buyout, many of Palm’s top executives and officers have resigned –presumably leaving for more promising opportunities. Palm’s CEO Jon Rubinstein was the only one left behind and keeping the company spirit alive. The merger with HP was the moment the man was waiting for –or so we all thought.
While HP had never officially announced public what their intentions for buying Palm was, many assumed that they would be taking over operations and would continue Palm as a mobile phone manufacturer. But an announcement by Mark Hurd, CEO of HP at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Technology conference made everything clear: HP would not be manufacturing smart phones.
According to the big man himself, the acquisition was entirely based on obtaining ownership of the WebOS –a technology that HP deemed too important to be lost to their competitors. But while the WebOS is primarily intended to be a mobile phone operating system, experts predict that it should fit in nicely as an OS for a tablet (or whatever new device that HP is indeed working on).
With this new announcement it seems that the Palm Pixi Plus and the Palm Pre Plus have now become the last smart phones we will ever get to see from this amazing manufacturer. The tech industry can only hope that the gap they leave will be filled in soon enough.
Tags: HP, HTC, Palm, Palm-Pixi-Plus, Palm-Pre-Plus, WebOS