Reuters Reports WebOS Sale Possible, Announcement Expected Soon

Posted By: Kris Keilhack Tuesday, November 8, 2011 2:45:57 PM

After nearly three months of uncertainty, it looks like the other shoe may be ready to drop for HP's WebOS decision. A Reuters article reports that HP is in talks to sell WebOS to any of "several" unnamed suitors. Assisting HP in the decision to keep or sell the WebOS/Palm GBU is Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Reuters does not mention a specific amount other than "hundreds of millions", which is far below the $1.2 Billion that HP originally paid for Palm in April of 2010.

HP Holding All-Hands Meeting Tonight on WebOS Future
The story has just taken yet another twist as an anonymous tipster has revealed to Precentral.net that an all-hands meeting of the WebOS GBU has been called at Palm's Sunnyvale HQ. According to the report, HP's newly-appointed CEO Meg Whitman and current SVP Jon Rubinstein will both be in attendance, a move that some are speculating is a harbinger of some potentially positive news. Of course, HP may also simply decide to shutter all WebOS-related operations.

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never ends

gmayhak @ 11/8/2011 7:15:57 PM # Q
Holly crap! it just won't die. push it down, it pops up.
It's like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stack_(abstract_data_type)

Gary


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RE: never ends
linds @ 11/9/2011 12:06:19 PM # Q
I just can't see anyone else taking a risk on it....especially with the 2 month period where everything has been in limbo. I am sure no developers have been starting new projects.....more likely scraping all projects. It's nice that they(HP) have released the updates that they have as to show they are still pumping money into it.

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false alarm

BaalthazaaR @ 11/10/2011 7:02:11 AM # Q
Looks like they want more time to decide

http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com/2011/11/10/whitman-needs-more-time-to-decide-webos-fate/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/10/idUS144081499920111110

RE: false alarm
gmayhak @ 11/10/2011 6:16:35 PM # Q
or, when Amazon wasn't interested and they couldn't find any other takers they tell the press 'we really don't know if we want to sell it or not'.
Anyone taking on webOS now would be doomed as HP was.
Companies wanting to stay ahead need to stop trying to jump on bandwagons and start innovating.

Gary
www.BattSix.com
Tech Center Labs
www.talestuff.com
www.iTalentProductions.com

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too bad....

rpa @ 11/12/2011 6:48:37 PM # Q
Bought my (non-tech) wife a Veer and she loves webOS. The OS really has (had) potential.
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maybe if

linds @ 11/15/2011 10:10:26 AM # Q
I would think at some price point there (200 million???) would be an incentive for some other company to make a bet on Webos. I guess the other question is " is there a certain dollar level where HP says they would rather just lose the entire 1.1 billion then to give some competition a shot. Maybe then could sell it out for 100 million or whatever price point but keep a small stake in it.

I don't know it just seems to me that Palm is still recognizable enough for someone to make a go at it. But also there is no doubt that HP way over paid for it.

The smart phone market is going to double overall so there is in my opinion still a shot for Web OS to make something of itself.

Why oh why I say, couldn't HP make something more polished in a years time. My guess is that those working on it didn't have enough incentive. What WebOS needs is someone (or a handful) who could personally profit a bundle off of it, with HP being such a large company WebOS didn't have a chance to make a handful of people alot of money. The profits would have been shared around the entire company not just those directly working on WebOS. So back to my point, give a small company a shot at it and they would work their tails off to make it polished and usable. Let the developers feel a part of it by listening to feed back and pushing out updates often.

I think back to the old Palm Garnet days, there were certain developers that you just loved because they listened and updated often. Chatteremail and Mr. Hobbyist Software (butler, phone tech..), and Plimco's date book app come to mind. I am sure there are way more.

HP as a large company can never have the feel of a small company. Way to many layers of bureaucracy.

"Off my soap box I jump."

RE: maybe if
HyperScheduler @ 11/15/2011 12:01:20 PM # Q
I like your analysis. That would be awesome if the Hobbyist Software guy teamed up with CESD's Pimlico Software to create an ultimate smartphone built on Web OS.

Even crazier: HP sells Web OS to the maniacs on this forum to build the ultimate smartphone and tablet. Put up or shut-up, right? :-)

RE: maybe if
LiveFaith @ 11/15/2011 9:15:59 PM # Q
No doubt that many see the benefit and the great work that Palm did on WebOS. They can certainly see that could have a nice swim in the huge smartfone waters. What's keeping them from jumping at the chance then?
Those 2 giant sharks and the 2 or 3 other smaller sharks that lie in wait to tear them limb from limb when they jump in.
Pat Horne
RE: maybe if
mijail @ 11/16/2011 4:01:04 AM # Q
Ever heard about that company with no experience in phones which went on to fscking dynamite the industry while it laughed at the newcomer?

(I can't find now who was the clown who said that Apple had "not a chance". Was it someone from Palm?)

I guess my point, or my question, maybe ever rhetorical, is... why they could and others are seen as incapable, even having a headstart?

RE: maybe if
HyperScheduler @ 11/16/2011 8:10:03 AM # Q
Good point, mijail. Believe it or not, it was *indeed* someone from Palm who made that quotation. Others here can find the link-- but it was a denial that "the PC guys" could just come in and build a terrific smartphone. Yes, the quotation suffers from the logical fallacy that Apple constitutes "PC" work, but the point remains the same.

When the iPhone came out through the present day, I have engaged in a mental debate with myself regarding the big-picture issue that you raise:

If Apple could do it, why couldn't Palm do it?

This website and forum has several people who have answered this question very thoroughly.

RE: maybe if
LiveFaith @ 11/16/2011 9:05:13 PM # Q
Many of the things the iPhone was, the posters on this forum had been begging Palm to do for years. All Palm decided to do was snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Pat Horne
RE: maybe if
linds @ 12/2/2011 6:38:29 AM # Q
"Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" This is the greatest one line of analysis I have heard regarding palm. I think it would work perfectly in the history books. Palm...."snatching defeat from the jaws of victory since 2002"
RE: maybe if
gmayhak @ 12/2/2011 7:00:13 PM # Q
Although they are gone there will always be some people that still use & love the early Palm stuff. I have a couple dozen of IBM's version of the VX (black)., one of the coolest PDAs they produced.
Now I use iPod Touch and iPad for writing apps but carry my REX600 in my shirt pocket, some of the old cool technology never dies ;-)

Gary
http://www.BattSix.com
Tech Center Labs
www.talestuff.com
www.iTalentProductions.com

RE: maybe if
gmayhak @ 12/2/2011 7:04:54 PM # Q
oops, REX6000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REX_6000
Tech Center Labs
www.talestuff.com
www.iTalentProductions.com
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