Apotheker: Shielding webOS from bureaucracy, considering licensing 20
In a wide-ranging talk at D9 with The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, HP CEO Leo Apotheker couldn’t resist elaborating on his plans for the company’s webOS strategy. While we didn’t get any concrete details, like when the HP TouchPad will be available to the public, we did get a glimpse into where Apotheker sees HP and webOS in the future.
In the first follow-up to Apotheker’s “launching within weeks” comment, the HP CEO admitted that he regrets that they weren’t able to get the Veer, TouchPad, and Pre3 to market more quickly. He also said that he’s tried to shield webOS and the Palm Global Business Unit from the HP bureaucracy, even though he doesn’t believe that there is much of one. It’s nice to see the new CEO caring enough about webOS to apparently shelter it from influences from other parts of HP.
Speaking of those other parts of HP, Apotheker sees HP undergoing a revolution over the next few years, saying that “You’ll see a completely different HP emerge over the next three to four years.” And that new HP, Apotheker wants it to be more like Apple, with a cohesive ecosystem of products all tied together by webOS. It’s talk we’ve heard before, and it’s talk we’re eager to see come to fruition.
But HP’s not looking to take Apple head-on. As Apotheker said, “It’s about becoming a third alternative” to Apple and Android. Even then, it’s not Apple or Android that worries Apotheker. He knows the companies that are out there. He said, “I actually worry most about the people I don't yet know about. Those up-and-comers are what keep me awake at night.” Smart words, Mr. Apotheker. Surely, Microsoft, RIM, and Nokia didn’t anticipate the rise of Google and Apple. It’s the little guys with great ideas you’ve got to look out for – and in the case of HP, buy them.
What was the biggest surprise, however, was Apotheker’s words about being open to licensing webOS to third parties. For the most part, he seemed more interested in products that would integrate into an HP-led ecosystem, offering that “appliance makers could use it to connect up normal home devices,” and that “webOS will be more than just a system that runs inside an HP product.”
That wasn’t too much of a bombshell. HP partnering up with third party manufacturers to put webOS in unexpected places makes sense. What caught us off guard was Apotheker’s response to a question from one D9 attendee regarding the possibility of licensing webOS to a competitor, say HTC:
“It is certainly something we would entertain.”
Source: All Things D, This Is My Next
20 Comments
#3, here we come!
I wouldnt expect to see webOS on a major phone vendor until webOS gains more traction.
I hope Samsung will jump in. Would be nice to have Samsung Nebula lineup opposite to Galaxy.
He's about to get a ton of calls from hardware manufacturer's to find out exactly what he's got in mind, for sure.
Samsung has already expressed an interest - see the "other handheld" section of the forums.
What a rivalry Derek and Dieter have going...
First they fought over who's name is more German. Now they have competing "WebOS Licensing" Articles.
On a positive note. I haven't seen this many exciting articles in awhile. Proud owner of a Day 1 Sprint Palm Pre and patiently waiting for a Sprint HP/Palm Pre 3. BTW, love the new Manny Ad.
I too am a day sprint PALM pre owner...remember when we had to rely on homebrew to get the video camera feature to work.lol Now back then That was news, in the last few days all the rumors and speculations are making my head hurt. Manny in Fight Night round 3...unbeatable
early days of homebrew...gaaahhhh i used to have to put in code in terminal everytime i wanted to play doom. I switched to the iphone but returned it within a week. I kept back swiping and nothing would happen.
Yes...not being able to swipe and having to hit a Home key, made me stay with WebOs.
Imagine, if Samsung made a galaxy SII phone running webOS with super Amoled plus screen and 1900mA battery and still weight less than pre-3 yet have a bigger screen. Sweet.
Even more imagine if samsung did what it does on Android: Release 3 or 4 phones a year, and not waiting all year. But not only that what if instead of waiting on two phones a pre 3 and a veer, you were waiting on the pre 3, the veer, 4 samsung phones, 5 HTC phones, etc?
I wonder what the conversation between hardware manufacturers and Leo would be?
"OK, Leo, we get to use Android for free. What's your offer?"
I believe Microsoft actually paid Nokia a hefty fee to use Windows Phone 7.
http://www.intomobile.com/2011/04/21/microsoft-pays-nokia-billions-use-w...
pinky finger to corner of lip and say, 100 trillion dollars followed by an evil laugh.
HTC pays MS $5 for every android device. That's not free.
It's not free but it's also not part of the original deal. HTC pays Microsoft as part of a settlement on a patent suit. They did get Android for free during the two or so years before MS came along and cried "patent infringement!"
I believe HTC has to pay Microsoft $5 for each Android phone that it ships due to some patent infringement case. Because of that, Microsoft has made more on HTC's Android devices than it has by licensing Windows Phone 7. It wouldn't be a surprise for them to start going after the other Android makers.
Been saying a long time. Should have licensed WebOS from the jump, or shortly after the Pre wasn't a big hit. More phones is more customers and more customers is more apps.
But this is not a surprise at least to me. But people in the forums have poo pooed it for a long time.
This is really amazing. HP has been a large technology giant for a long time and it looks like most of the questions people ask the CEO are about webOS this and webOS that.
We as consumers, which I'm a Pre 2 user on Sprint, would want more hardware options when it comes to webOS. Having webOS succeed is a priority for HP. I think once HP and the Palm Global Business Unit have webOS 3.0 or 4.0 ready then they will be willing to license it out.
As of now, the hardware, webOS, PC webOS and Tablets will be beta tested to the fullest by us with that HP logo.
One more thing, why all the bureaucracy around Palm and webOS when it needs the attention ASAP.
Actually, I believe the big reason Android spread so quickly was because they paid manufacturers to use it. That has probably changed by now since its such a hit.
It occurred to me that HP has been targeting RIM with their WebOS strategy.
Apotheker says its something they would entertain because its just that, entertaining. He speaks so much about wanting to be more like Apple so doesn't that mean that he'd want to hold onto that cohesive ecosystem? Licensing for home or car integration is one thing, but I don't think we'll be seeing WebOS on any other phone or tablet manufacturer's hardware any time soon.