As Hewlett-Packard works to capitalize on its inherited webOS by installing it on more products, the technology giant will also seek out select hardware partners to license the operating system.
Two company executives indicated Wednesday that they believe webOS, which became HP's property when it bought the foundering Palm last year, can still generate interest in a PC market dominated by Microsoft's Windows and a mobile market dominated by Google's Android and Apple's iOS.
Outstanding System
"I happen to believe that webOS is a uniquely outstanding operating system," HP CEO Leo Apotheker said Wednesday at The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. "It's not correct to believe that it should only be on HP devices. There are all kinds of other people who want to make whatever kind of hardware they make and would like to connect them to the Internet. We'll make it available to enterprises and to SMBs. It will run on lots of HP devices."
Apotheker's comments about webOS, published in an online transcript by the Journal, came in a discussion with the paper's Walt Mossberg and in response to questions from an audience member.
The CEO, who took charge of HP last September, said he regretted the company did not try to market webOS sooner, saying, "It would have made life easier."
Speaking on the same day at a different conference, the top HP executive in charge of webOS, Jon Rubinstein, said "HP is more than willing to partner with one or two special companies," but ruled out making it open source for anyone who wants it.
At Qualcomm's Uplinq conference, Rubinstein, a former Apple vice president, said "if someone wants to put a real focus on contributing and building the webOS ecosystem, that would be something we're interested in," PC World reported.
HP plans to install webOS on its high-end printers as well as on computers -- initially working in conjunction with Windows -- and on the company's TouchPad tablet due this summer. It also runs on a selection of smartphones, including the Pri, Pixi and Plus.
A Long Shot
But HP may face a tough road in boosting interest from manufacturers, app developers, and customers.
According to the latest U.S. smartphone data from Nielsen Mobile Insights, webOS commands just a four percent share of the market, tied with Nokia's Symbian and trailing market leader Android (36 percent), Apple (26 percent), and Research In Motion's BlackBerry (23 percent).
"If they do have a shot, it's a long one," said Charles King, principal analyst for Pund-IT. "The smart money seems to be on Android and Apple, with entrepreneurial mobile vendors embracing Google, and Microsoft coming up from behind via Windows 8."
The idea of licensing webOS to others, King said, "is intriguing, but for that to be compelling, HP will first have to drive market interest/momentum with products of its own."
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