HP's getting a hell of a deal here. They're now a major player in the mobile devices market, overnight.
Palm has current relationships with the three biggest American cell carriers, plus channels in Canada, France, Germany, UK, and Mexico. Palm also has an extensive patent portfolio, many of which Apple is infringing upon.
However, the real prize is WebOS. I just got back from Palm's Developer Day, and their technology stack for their next OS version is pretty damn neat. It's a high performance event-driven javascript architecture on the back end, with WebKit on the front, all programmed through a Rails-ish MVC model. As a web developer, it looks shockingly easy to program for.
Of course, if you want to program the phone in raw C/C++ and SDL, you can do that too. It's incredibly flexible.
What Palm has been lacking is cash and time. The WebOS development stack won't be fully built out until Fall, and they haven't had the resources to push new phone models out as quickly as they need. This deal gives Palm much needed juice, and gives HP all the things they need to go head-to-head with Apple.
If HP is smart, they'll start tossing WebOS on tablets as soon as they can. I'd buy an HP slate with WebOS in a heartbeat.
I laughed because they were also a major player in the mobile devices market upon the acquisition of Compaq. Remember the iPaq? They were solid devices at the time and sold well.
Granted, your emphasis on WebOS is correct. That time, they didn't get control of an OS. Microsoft let WinCE stagnate to some degree over the next few years. We'll see how HP does this time around.
I'm hopeful, but I'm expecting the worst. webOS seems to be a compelling technology, particularly because its SDK allows developers to use HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript which many more developers know and use than say Objective-C.
The reason I'm expecting the worst is that HP has never been a software company and not even Palm can change that.
You're a storied pioneer in tech, but you got massive and lost your sense of direction. You're about to acquire something of a microcosm of yourself—a company that pioneered an industry but lost its way as it grew.
The difference is that your new acquisition rediscovered its sense of curiosity and turned itself around, too late to save itself, but brilliantly so nonetheless. You can learn from this. Your size has protected you from Palm's fate, but you were slowly headed down the same path, despite even your well-intentioned yet insufficiently-pursued experiments with things like TouchSmart.
While this is a new beginning for Palm, it's also a new beginning for you. What's your tagline again? Ah, yes: Invent. There's never been a better time to make good on it.
HP is now run by business men, not engineers. If Carla didn't prove this to you, then you are probably never going to get it. The fact is, they don't care about Compaq, DEC, Palm, or even HP. They just want to pull in enough money over the next few years, until they retire. They could be selling Paper cups for all they care about the product, as long as they still get their bonuses.
I don't think that HP has a clear purpose for making this purchase. They held a conference call on the acquisition, which is available on their webpage, along with a transcript:
The first questioner wanted to know why HP didn't just build Android devices. HP didn't have a compelling response. They just mumbled something about "early stage market" and making webOS "more compelling". Oddly, HP then mentioned that they are still a strategic partner with Microsoft.
According to the press release, Palm shareholders get $5.70/share. The stock is above $5.90/share in after-hours trading. Is there some reason for this? Is this an arbitrage opportunity (assuming you could get shares to borrow)?
Wow. I just bought a Pre a month ago. At least they'll continue to be a going concern (and able to provide me with support ;) I was hoping Palm would be able to make it independently somehow, though.
This would be an awesome thing if WebOS ended up on the HP Slate.
I love my Apple gear, and I'm going to stay that way as long as they keep making well-designed (minimalistic externally) stuff.
But with the Palm acquisition, HP will be able to do just what Apple is doing. And that's great - integration between software and hardware makes my life (as a user) so much easier.
The main question I have is: will they have any taste? The HP slate has a big white HP logo on the user-facing side, which will keep me from buying one no matter what else it might do. (I don't want to be distracted when I'm using a tablet.)
It's funny, even though Apple has resisted messing up the hardware, there is still that "Sent from my iPhone" message which always struck me as having no taste at all. It is different because you can remove it, but still.
But, they are buying the name and existing customers of Palm. Don't forget that the acquisition will also give HP access to Palm's patent portfolio...This is especially important now that we have seen Android targeted by MS for "patent infringement". If HP/Palm have a good device, a good OS and patents to keep the competition from pushing too hard, then they have a chance.
By the time you're done writing and testing a new webOS, the market would have changed and the serious contenders established. Right now it's still up for grabs.
Not sure what the industry analysis of this will be, but I like the idea of HP having its own platform to present to the world.
It reminds me of the 80s where the was lots of diversity in the platforms. The good news here is WebOS apps are mostly built on web standards so we have the best of both worlds.
webOS was definitely the most promising of the platforms imo. It never saw much adoption because the political approval/development process at Palm was horrible even if you tried really hard to get your apps on it (see jwz) and it was only available on the one not-very-popular phone.
I'm happy to see someone who might do something decent with webOS take over.
WebOS is unique but I wouldn't be generous enough to say unparalleled at this point. I don't think either Android or iPhone have leaped too far ahead in the last year. Android 2.x offers very little in terms of new end user features over 1.x and iPhone OS is evolving at a faster pace but if you take multitasking out of the picture (which WebOS already had) it's only an incremental improvement. The big issue of course is third party interest where the iPhone is way out in front of the pack.
Open source packages and linux kernel compiled together - really really unparalleled. No community, no support, no market, just a plain cognitive dissonance.
This is very surprising. I'd speculated that Sony or RIM would consider buying them once HTC fell out of favor. Sony seemed to be a good fit from a capacity to deliver a high quality product, plus they have ability, much like Apple, to sell stuff at a premium.
RIM seemed less likely but given their need for a new phone OS, it seemed like a pretty easy fit. Corporate culture might have been a factor against them doing this deal, hard to say.
HP's not the sort of company that can enter a new market like this and turn it on its ear, but maybe I'm wrong. They did have the foresight to buy DEC Alpha, which seemed like a great fit, but then they did nothing with it.
HP's not the sort of company that can enter a new market like this and turn it on its ear
This isn't a new market for HP. They've been a leader in the PocketPC space for years, with their Axim line, and Compaq's Ipaq link (no, Apple didn't invent the "i" thing).
I wonder now what's to become of the Ipaqs. I assume that the Windows Mobile based devices will simply be phased out.
Well, Palm is a publicly traded company. Their valuation is fairly objective. HP actually paying more than the market cap of 784 M. http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=palm&d=t
Groupon doesn't have that litmus test, and valuations and cash money are two different things.
I hope HP gets WebOS to be a big enough player to mean great things for innovation in the mobile device space going forward. Gotta love competition as a consumer!
<joke>I guess HP figured out that when print media dies, it can't sell as many cartridges and figured it would tow along a sinking boat to its tanker ship. </joke>
Whatever the case may be, HP needs to put blinders on Palm. Palm needs to ultra focus on one good phone. How did they forget that they used to focus so well on the Treos that Blackberry seemed pale in comparison.
For years I've loved HP's printers but found the drivers to be a complete mess. I've been left with the sense that they have a incredibly solid hardware/firmware group, but the rest of their software was incredibly poorly designed: that they really didn't understand software at all.
Is there a compelling reason to believe that HP won't make a mess of the software in WebOS?
Man, that is a big pile of cash. It hardly seems worth it, but if HP wanted to be a player in the mobile space now they are.
But Palm has a (very long and storied) software problem, not a hardware problem. HP doesn't have much of a reputation in consumer-grade OS software development so I'm not sure how they will be able succeed where Palm failed.
All of you developers, does this excite you as a potential development platform now? Watching past Palm/webOS postings here not gain any traction made me wonder why. Was it the dismal outlook? Was there something wrong with the dev suite Palm offered? Does the hp acquisition change all that for you?
Lack of an app market and developer tool immaturity (incomplete documentation, private methods for complete implementation, non-obvious debugging, etc)
[+] [-] megaduck|16 years ago|reply
Palm has current relationships with the three biggest American cell carriers, plus channels in Canada, France, Germany, UK, and Mexico. Palm also has an extensive patent portfolio, many of which Apple is infringing upon.
However, the real prize is WebOS. I just got back from Palm's Developer Day, and their technology stack for their next OS version is pretty damn neat. It's a high performance event-driven javascript architecture on the back end, with WebKit on the front, all programmed through a Rails-ish MVC model. As a web developer, it looks shockingly easy to program for.
Of course, if you want to program the phone in raw C/C++ and SDL, you can do that too. It's incredibly flexible.
What Palm has been lacking is cash and time. The WebOS development stack won't be fully built out until Fall, and they haven't had the resources to push new phone models out as quickly as they need. This deal gives Palm much needed juice, and gives HP all the things they need to go head-to-head with Apple.
If HP is smart, they'll start tossing WebOS on tablets as soon as they can. I'd buy an HP slate with WebOS in a heartbeat.
[+] [-] tewks|16 years ago|reply
Granted, your emphasis on WebOS is correct. That time, they didn't get control of an OS. Microsoft let WinCE stagnate to some degree over the next few years. We'll see how HP does this time around.
[+] [-] mace|16 years ago|reply
The reason I'm expecting the worst is that HP has never been a software company and not even Palm can change that.
[+] [-] mixmax|16 years ago|reply
Except for the one thing that makes apple products special: Design.
[+] [-] unknown|16 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] pkulak|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fredmg|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c00p3r|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mortenjorck|16 years ago|reply
Please don't mess this up.
You're a storied pioneer in tech, but you got massive and lost your sense of direction. You're about to acquire something of a microcosm of yourself—a company that pioneered an industry but lost its way as it grew.
The difference is that your new acquisition rediscovered its sense of curiosity and turned itself around, too late to save itself, but brilliantly so nonetheless. You can learn from this. Your size has protected you from Palm's fate, but you were slowly headed down the same path, despite even your well-intentioned yet insufficiently-pursued experiments with things like TouchSmart.
While this is a new beginning for Palm, it's also a new beginning for you. What's your tagline again? Ah, yes: Invent. There's never been a better time to make good on it.
[+] [-] megablast|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AndrewS|16 years ago|reply
I quit HP early this year (around 18 months after I joined HP in an aquisition). After that experience, I can't believe HP continues to grow at all.
[+] [-] dwwoelfel|16 years ago|reply
http://www.hp.com/investor/webcast
The first questioner wanted to know why HP didn't just build Android devices. HP didn't have a compelling response. They just mumbled something about "early stage market" and making webOS "more compelling". Oddly, HP then mentioned that they are still a strategic partner with Microsoft.
[+] [-] dwwoelfel|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jakarta|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shiftb|16 years ago|reply
This would be an awesome thing if WebOS ended up on the HP Slate.
[+] [-] maxharris|16 years ago|reply
I love my Apple gear, and I'm going to stay that way as long as they keep making well-designed (minimalistic externally) stuff.
But with the Palm acquisition, HP will be able to do just what Apple is doing. And that's great - integration between software and hardware makes my life (as a user) so much easier.
The main question I have is: will they have any taste? The HP slate has a big white HP logo on the user-facing side, which will keep me from buying one no matter what else it might do. (I don't want to be distracted when I'm using a tablet.)
[+] [-] aero142|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] faramarz|16 years ago|reply
Elevation Partners must be trilled!
[+] [-] sachinag|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] steveplace|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gregstoll|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lallysingh|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tichy|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cullenking|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mahmud|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joubert|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrkurt|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hackernews|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dagw|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] raheemm|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ziadbc|16 years ago|reply
It reminds me of the 80s where the was lots of diversity in the platforms. The good news here is WebOS apps are mostly built on web standards so we have the best of both worlds.
[+] [-] jxcole|16 years ago|reply
Question: is Palm's web os platform really unparalleled? Or is it quickly falling behind the race that is now dominated by iPhone and android?
[+] [-] mrkurt|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] locopati|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cookiecaper|16 years ago|reply
I'm happy to see someone who might do something decent with webOS take over.
[+] [-] jsz0|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c00p3r|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evo_9|16 years ago|reply
RIM seemed less likely but given their need for a new phone OS, it seemed like a pretty easy fit. Corporate culture might have been a factor against them doing this deal, hard to say.
HP's not the sort of company that can enter a new market like this and turn it on its ear, but maybe I'm wrong. They did have the foresight to buy DEC Alpha, which seemed like a great fit, but then they did nothing with it.
Here's hoping for the best.
[+] [-] CWuestefeld|16 years ago|reply
This isn't a new market for HP. They've been a leader in the PocketPC space for years, with their Axim line, and Compaq's Ipaq link (no, Apple didn't invent the "i" thing).
I wonder now what's to become of the Ipaqs. I assume that the Windows Mobile based devices will simply be phased out.
[+] [-] minouye|16 years ago|reply
http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/13/groupon-raises-huge-new-rou...
[+] [-] ziadbc|16 years ago|reply
Groupon doesn't have that litmus test, and valuations and cash money are two different things.
[+] [-] dschobel|16 years ago|reply
Think of it more as, the perceived value way way way down the road of groupon == palm's value as of an hour ago.
[+] [-] TotlolRon|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MWinther|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] samratjp|16 years ago|reply
Whatever the case may be, HP needs to put blinders on Palm. Palm needs to ultra focus on one good phone. How did they forget that they used to focus so well on the Treos that Blackberry seemed pale in comparison.
[+] [-] sanj|16 years ago|reply
Is there a compelling reason to believe that HP won't make a mess of the software in WebOS?
[+] [-] thought_alarm|16 years ago|reply
But Palm has a (very long and storied) software problem, not a hardware problem. HP doesn't have much of a reputation in consumer-grade OS software development so I'm not sure how they will be able succeed where Palm failed.
[+] [-] ashishbharthi|16 years ago|reply
Though Palm Pre and Pixi didnt sell as expected, Palm's WebOS has received pretty decent feedback from all over.
[+] [-] mikecane|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elai|16 years ago|reply