Edible Apple

HP made a big power move last week when it announced its intention to acquire Palm for $1.2 billion. The driving force behind HP’s move was Palm’s WebOS, which now gives HP the resources to release devices where they can control both the hardware and software. Sound familiar?

In an interview conducted shortly after the deal was announced, HP’s CTO Shane Robison spoke to CNN and explained what HP envisions doing with their latest acquisition.

Why buy this? You guys certainly don’t need Palm for the hardware. Does this mean HP will build its mobile device strategy on webOS?

That’s exactly right. They’ve got some cool hardware products, but this is about the webOS and app development kits and the app space that they’re building up. It gives us a chance to really grow in a market that, standalone, is more than $120 billion and has grown 20% annually. We think it’s where a lot of the action is going to be in the next generation. The webOS is a modern, very capable operating system that is nicely differentiated. Palm has a strong IP position and a really great group of employees. It’s a change in our business model.