HP, who in February said they’d support Microsoft and their Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system, but then went ahead and purchased Palm in April for $1.2 billion, has recently said that they’re going to stick to webOS, and only webOS, for their smartphones going forward.
Not that HP ever made any good smartphones to begin with. Compaq was the company who made interesting personal digital assistants, with specifications such as built in WiFi and a 640 x 480 screen in the iPaq hx4700 which was released in 2004. HP bought Compaq, took the brand, and basically did nothing with them. HP just wanted to grow, and Compaq’s desktop computer business offered them those precious percentage points of market share to leverage future business contracts.
After HP purchased Palm we at IntoMobile all chimed in with our thought, you can read that piece here, and I just want to repeat what I said back then:
“I’m one of those people who has long memories of Palm. I’ve had several Palm OS devices and during high school, while taking advanced placement courses, I even used a Palm connected to a serial keyboard to take notes. I, along with many other folks, want to see them survive, but I don’t think this deal with Palm will do anything. I hope the future will prove me wrong.”
I still hold the same opinion today. So HP is skipping Windows Phone 7 … who really cares, did you expect them to make something worth your while anyway? When was the last time you saw an iPaq and had gadget lust? More importantly for HP going forward, when was the last time you saw a Palm device and had a burning hole in your wallet?
I bet the answer to both those question isn’t too reassuring for stockholders.
[Via: Mobile Business Briefing]