Samsung chief executive shoots down talk of webOS buy

Samsung chief executive Choi Gee Sung has dismissed any notion that the company is interested in acquiring HP's webOS mobile platform.

A report from Bloomberg said that Samsung will not look to land HP's beleaguered mobile operating system, and will instead concentrate on its Bada platform.

"It’s not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion," Choi was quoted as saying.

His comments come just days after a report suggested that the two companies were in talks over a deal to give Samsung control of webOS. HP acquired webOS in 2010 when it bought Palm for $1.2bn.

HP maintains that the platform enjoys support from users and developers, but sales of webOS hardware never took off and HP announced last month that it will discontinue the webOS device line.

Samsung has enjoyed success in the mobile handset and tablet markets, but Google's recent decision to acquire Motorola Mobility has led to speculation that Samsung will be among those looking for an alternative to Android.

Enderle Group principal analyst Rob Enderle believes that Samsung and webOS would not have been a good match.

"Samsung isn't exactly a poster child for good platform ownership, and has a reputation for not being loyal to any platform, including its own, for long. This suggests that webOS probably has a better chance of success with HP," he told V3.

"Since HP never officially offered webOS for sale, and indicated that it did not want to lose it, I don't see this as a setback, only a clarification of what remains a pretty murky strategy."