Here is the turnaround of the week, if not the month-- in an interview with Fox Business CEO Meg Whitman confirms HP is working on a smartphone, saying the company needs to go back to mobile market.
"My view is we have to ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world, that is your 1st computing device... We’re a computing company, we have to take advantage of that form factor,” Whitman says.
HP used to sell Windows Mobile device before it bought Palm and webOS for all of $1.2 billion back in 2010. It killed off the webOS mobile device making division on August 2011 (due to generally dismal sales) as part of the abortive Great Garage Sale kicked off by then-CEO Léo Apotheker.
Whitman had no part in those decisions. And now she wants back at mobiles.
"We’ve got to get it right this time," Whitman continues. "So we’re working to make sure that, when we do this, it will be the right thing for HP and we will be successful."
The company might have the software-- a skeleton staff still ticks on, turning webOS software into the the open source Enyo. Also, according to a leaked email HP also has "Gram," an internal startup formed from the remains of the webOS Global Business Unit. HP also might go for the easier (or more mainstream) option and simply make Android or Windows Phone 8 devices.
Since HP is repeating past decisions, it might even do a second big mobile-related acquisition-- maybe it can do a big enough offer for RIM? Then again, the more unkind of commentors suggest HP should concentrate on its PC bread and butter instead of thinking it can rival the likes of Apple and Samsung...
Go HP: We Have to Ultimately Offer a Smartphone (Fox Business)
