HP set to decide final fate of webOS

HP is tipped to reveal the fate of the much-loved webOS operating system late on Friday afternoon.

Two weeks ago, during the HP Vision event in Vienna, chief executive Meg Whitman told French newspaper Le Figaro the firm would make a decision in two weeks' time, which, by our calculations, means all would have been revealed 16 December, but according to web site Precentral the decision will be made on Friday 9 December.

Whitman told Le Figaro she was taking so long as it was "not an easy decision, because we have a team of 600 people in limbo".

It feels like a long time since HP acquired Palm in 2010, for what now seems like the colossal sum of $1.2bn and both parties no doubt envisaged it would be a fruitful partnership that would lead to long-term success in the mobile market.

However, things haven't quite worked out that way and the IP assets of Palm that Todd Bradley, executive vice president of the personal systems group at HP, labelled as "significant" when they bought the firm look destined for the scrap heap.

HP never really seemed to push webOS devices, giving the HP Veer and Pre 3 rather muted launches. The PC manufacturer then made the rather questionable decision of scrapping the smartphones and the HP TouchPad just weeks after they were launched.

There were reports that Samsung would step in to buy webOS, but the South Korean firm, which has its own Bada operating system, shot down rumours before they gathered too much pace. It's a shame as many people who have used webOS have nothing but positive things to say about it.

With speculation growing that HP will use Windows 8 on forthcoming devices as well it seems all but inevitable that webOS will be consigned to the history books.

However, there is a glimmer of hope as the webOS operating system proved popular with customers during a successful fire sale of the TouchPad and if HP can get its act together there may be a chance of building an ecosystem yet.

Whatever the decision, this time HP needs to make sure it's final.

09 Dec 2011