HP Scoops Up Palm For $1.2 Billion…. Never Saw That Coming

I have to admit that I did see Palm being bought out, but I didn’t see HP being the company doing the buying. But that’s exactly what happened today when HP announced that they have purchased Palm for $1.2 billion. Why did they buy Palm. Here’s what HP had to say via their press release:

The combination of HP’s global scale and financial strength with Palm’s unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets. Palm’s unique webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as true multitasking and always up-to-date information sharing across applications.

Yeah. Sure. I guess they needed to get into the smart phone fight somehow and Palm was the best way to do it seeing as they were ripe for a takeover. But the only way I can see that this purchase working for HP is if HP customers see the value in an “all in one solution” where Palm fits into a larger HP solution. Otherwise, I would say that this is $1.2 billion wasted.

Oh, I did note this from the press release:

Palm’s current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company.

There seems to be a bit of wiggle room in that sentence. Anybody want to take bets on how long he stays?

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