HP buys Palm for $1.2 Billion

In an unexpected announcement today, HP revealed that they have come to an agreement to acquire Palm for about $1.2 billion.

It has been rumored that Palm is being put on sale for several weeks now and that HTC or Lenovo is looking into a deal. HP coming in and scooping up Palm is a surprise but it’ a move that made some sense.

hp-palm

HP and Palm made this joint release today:

HP and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors

Palm’s last ditch effort to survive the competitive smartphone market did not panned out well, a market it once dominated. Palm’s flagship handset, the Pre, and its completely new mobile operating system, WebOS, temporarily took the headlines but failed to sustain the excitement and momentum.

On the other hand, HP’s also been doing the iPaq smartphone for some time already but has not really made any developments in the mobile space for awhile and making an impression its giving up in that department. Acquiring Palm surely changes that perception.

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20 Comments

Jinoe · 16 years ago

I am a fan of Palm. Sounds like a great deal and the market is very competitive with a lot of exciting developments.

markmarcelo0210 · 16 years ago

this is good news. with Palm’s mobile phone capabilities, HP can compete Apple’s iPhone. I have been waiting for the day that Apple will fall apart.

Ryan Ang · 16 years ago

HTC might be just happy being an OEM supplier and churning their own units in the process. HP on the other hand is a little aggressive in acquiring ailing firms that can do justice by providing them little push. I must say it did good in acquiring Compaq and in a small way Voodoo.

We’ll now see more of webOS getting implemented to more devices, like on a slate device perhaps? :P

lolipown · 16 years ago

looks like HP wants to revive it’s ipaq line.

laurence · 16 years ago

joining forces to kick the ipad on the spotlight…

Jon · 16 years ago

HTC!! You should have bought Palm! Oh well, I just wish this isn’t the end of Palm’s WebOS. In some aspects, it is better than Android. It’s lack of developers and market share made it a less favorable platform. Good luck to HP.