Just two weeks after HP announced it would not be selling its PC division, Personal Systems Group (PSG), the rumour mill is turning to the company’s operating system, webOS.
HP acquired webOS when it purchased Palm in 2010. The platform was the foundation of the TouchPad tablet, which was pulled from the international market just as it was making its debut here.
Reuters reported yesterday that four sources close to the matter had confirmed HP was looking to sell webOS, and later The Verge went so far as to report that the company’s CEO, Meg Whitman, had called an all-hands meeting to discuss the matter.
Although the deal is unlikely to come close to the US$1.2 billion price tag of the Palm acquisition, it could still be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Amazon, Research In Motion, IBM, Oracle and Intel are all rumoured as possible buyers.
Update: HP CEO Meg Whitman has reportedly told a room full of HP and Palm employees that a decision on the fate of the webOS operating system will be finalised in coming weeks.
A report on The Verge says Whitman acknowledges the delay is unsatisfying, but says she is determined to make the right decision, rather than the fast decision.
Her interest is reportedly focused on utilising webOS on a tablet, as 'things get more complicated if you add in phones'.
