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HP grabs Palm (and all its patents) for a whopping $1.2 billion
That $1.2 billion isn't just a big number, it's actually a few hundred million more than the roughly-$750 million price industry pundits put on Palm just a month ago. So what's with the sudden acquisition by HP? Well, with Apple and Google fighting it out in court over mobile patents -- Apple recently sued HTC over multitouch technology -- those Palm patents are looking mighty sexy now, as potential offensive or defensive weapons in any kind of mobile technology battle.
HP has the manufacturing muscle to launch into the mobile market, but it didn't have a decent OS or any patents to protect it from the current heavy-hitters in the market. Going into competition with Apple and Google without significant patents would have been like bringing a knife to a gunfight. And you'd better believe Palm has significant patents, with 15 years in the PDA/Smartphone market. In fact, that might be why Apple went after HTC instead of Palm over multitouch.
[via Engadget]
Comments
6
Subscribe to commentsgenerickyApr 28th 2010 5:56PM
Hello HPad!
TscharliApr 28th 2010 6:54PM
Perhaps Palm technology will help HP to fight its pesky technology leaks.
Concorde105Apr 28th 2010 6:56PM
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hazardApr 28th 2010 9:16PM
Whoa that's full on.
Good news for Palm as HP is rather benevolent as far as coporate takeovers go. It will be interesting to see how long Palm is able to operate at "an arms distance", though guess that all comes down to cash flow.
Also of note is that Jay, you failed to make a single reference to Microsoft.
There is still probably more devices "out there" running Windows Mobile than iPhone OS or Andriod put togther. This is doubly interesting cause HP and MS have been in a very intimate long-term relationship. As this leads to the obvious conculsion that this move is about strengthing this alliance to protect and push the upcoming Windows Phone OS. As MS would not be able to buy Palm directly ..
kojo87Apr 28th 2010 11:45PM
as smartphones become closer and closer to full computers this makes sense. HP knows hardware, Palm knows software.
Crome TysnomiGnu32Apr 30th 2010 8:02AM
HP knows hardware?
Have you seen or tried to fix HP laptops in the last five years?