HP Buys Palm: Weigh in, PreCentral Nation 73
by Dieter Bohn Wed, 28 Apr 2010 8:39 pm EDT
Look, we're going to keep this simple: HP is buying Palm. We're feeling fairly pleased overall so far, but we'll see as time goes on. In the meantime, simple: what do you think?
73 Comments
OMG! Can you say webOS on an HP slate?!? iPad, schmy-pad!! Long live webOS!!! ;-) SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!
Agreed! But please, HP, get rid of that slow power hungry Atom and replace it with something like dualcore Cortex A9 from ARM ;-)
Attention all Evo Trolls, GET OUT!!!!!! And dont look back. Thank you. Oh, same to you Catcarcass.
Even Gizmodo is having a hard time pooping on this one.
Oh...and "First" I guess...LMAO! ;-p
Some fodder for tonights palmcast:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/36833957?__source=yahoo|headline|quote|text|&par=yahoo
great quote: "Not only is the message clear that HP didn't want Google's software, it spent $1.2 billion to avoid it. Ouch."
and some harsh criticism of the deal (some of these conclusions are highly debatable, imo):
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Why-HP-Is-Buying-Palm-And-Why-siliconalley...
short link for that first one since it didn't work right:
http://bit.ly/bjvT0H
viva la webOS!!
Uhh who voted bummer? To the stake!!!
That'd be the Apple/RIM/Google peeps...
i voted bummer because i like palm and hate HP, nothing but bad experiences with them as far as both hardware and support go...
I second that thought, never once used a HP product that wasn't a POS! From laptops and desktops breaking within months of purchase to printers sucking down ink like theirs no tomorrow, everything they produce is trash.....hopefully Palm rubs off on them and not vice versa, i'm glad I have TEP
I completely disagree. The first "new" PC I bought was from HP. I'm a Mac guy, but needed a strong, fast, low-cost machine for business. Worked like a charm and still does, by the way. It's long in the tooth, but for what I need it for it's fantastic. I can't do my business without my Pre. I need WebOS to stay alive. This is a pretty good deal for both parties.
*tear... the day is finally here! WebOS will finally get the hardware and "scale" that it desperately needs. I could care less about killing the iphone or android, competition is good. I'm excited about the fact that the OS that I love is finally getting what it needs to really captivate and perform like I knew it could/would. Thank you HP, Palm get to work!
I'm jumping for joy but with my fingers crossed. Hopefully HP won't take away Palm's 'small' company atmosphere and creativity to pander to the least common denominator. I like where Palm has been going and don't want it to change too much.
On another note...I love my Palm Pre Plus but I love it more now because I believe it will realize its full potential now since Palm will be around for years to come.
Perhaps a better attempt at marketing WebOS on some different hardware might enthuse the masses, but don't hold your breath. I have learned not to keep setting myself up for dissapointment by aiming low. Baby steps, Rome in a day, yada yada yada... I see the future and it is open source all the way. Get with the program!
As long as WebOS is OK I am OK
Agreed!
Indeed, I'm a big fan of WebOS and this is a four star deal IMO. HP is known for letting small business units operate small, rather than being assimilated into the bloated architecture of the large corporate world.
Palm did me no favors in the last year. Too many marketing mistakes, so my allegiace to the brand is much lower than my support for WebOS as a product. HP needs WebOS, so they should be a suitable guardian.
This is great. If HP really gets behind WebOS like it sounds like they will, this is incredible. I'm excited to see what happens!
WebOS Tablet!? *drool*
WOW!!!! What if they make a Slate type device with WebOS?!?!? OMG!!! That would be AWESOME!!!
just a thought...
Anyone have any idea how HP might consider homebrew / patching. Will the current Palm attitude persist?
HP comes from the PC world. They don't care as long as you buy their hardware. That's good and bad. Good is they would not close down the WebOS like Apple. Bad is they probably would not care much to invest more into it.
this was my first and only concern so far. Lets just hope they keep the same stance as palm, webOS is great but the homebrew community make it amazing.
Maybe now they can focus on completing webOS so we don't have a NEED for homebrewing/patching/tweaking and so on and so on.
Wouldn't that be better for the "common" customer and webOS in general?
In an ideal world, this would be the case, but history has showed us (through the contrasting experiences Apple and Linux offer) that the ones who know what's best for the community is the community itself, not the patron company.
I think an iPad type of WebOS device is as certain as the sun will come up tomorrow. I sure hope HP can get good manufactures for the next WebOS phone and make sure the hardware is rock solid for WebOS 2.0. I am excited to see what a tablet WebOS device would look like, but I doubt I would rush out and get one.
All these time, I have not heard a single negative comment about WebOS itself. All the problems are with hardware and Apps.
I see a 4.3"ish, fast processor, 4G WebOS device in the near future... maybe by the holiday season.
HP will have to move FAST to keep up with the runaway success of iPhone OS and Android!!
That sort of phone is what I'm really hoping for. A solid Sprint Evo hardware competitor, although I'd be OK with a slightly smaller screen if it has a physical keyboard. Hey, as long as we're rubbing the bottle and making requests, I also want Bluetooth keyboard support plus virtual keyboard for those times it's more convenient, and AMOLED.
damnit , i wish would survive on there own
Yeah, was hoping they would make it on their own too. But now, I guess as long as WebOS is kept and not taken in some different direction, I'll be happy. Would also like the Plam name to stay. Just doesn't sound right to say HP WebOS.
-Skippy
AWESOME!!!!
PALM(WebOS)+HP(Hardware)= Device of the future
WOW !! What a great partnership! Being an EDS\HP employee for 18 years, I think this is great!!
Hey, I'm an EDS/HP employee too (not near as long though).
-Skippy
Do we know if the Palm brand is gonna stay? Also, is precentral's name gonna change to HPcentral? or maybe HPHQ?
just a thought...
Anyone have any idea how HP might consider homebrew / patching. Will the current Palm attitude persist?
I can't say enough about how this warms my heart. I was really worried that I'd see Palm go down in flames, see webOS disappear and be surounded by stupid iphones. Not to mention all the people I tried to convince, some sucessfully, to buy a Pre. This news has made me very happy.
I knew there was a reason for my HP laptop and my Palm Pre. Now they are family.
With HP, I think webOS will be in very, very good hands- and deep pockets. I just hope that they'll keep the "Palm" brand- that's really important. If they don't do that I'll be bummed. Besides, if HP can push out a webOS tablet, I'm buying it the minute it's released.
I think HP taking over Palm is actually a great thing since at least they see the value in WebOS and won't scrub it in the near future. I voted bummer though just because the better story would be Palm surving the storm and returning to profitability on their own. There also wasn't a "i'm on the fence" option.
because of this merger, do you guys think there will be a webos phone on par with where all the other platforms will be at by the time my contract is up in a year and a half? I love webos, but at that time, I'll be doing aome major shopping and comparing.
Only liars can predict 1.5 years ahead in tech world. HP will keep Palm alive for WebOS 2.0 devices. I think the biggest change is that WebOS slate is a certain thing.
For WebOS slate, I don't even see a need for a cell network version, because of the mobile hot spot support. It is not going to replace a phone, so why pay extra for data connection that you already have with the phone?
Sorry to spoil the party, but here's how it works when a giant megacorp acquires a small, scrappy startup. I know Palm has been around for years, but considering the size differential they might as well be a startup.
1. Beaming smiles from the big company and the startup, promises from both that nothing will change with the startup's operations or products. "Startup will operate as an independent business unit within megacorp!" is always, always said.
2. Startup's directors & managers become product leads for former startup's products in new division of megacorp. All startup employees are offered retention bonuses contingent on staying on with megacorp for a period of time after acquisition closes. Retention period and bonus vary inversely by employee rank (i.e. CEOs and directors get big payouts if they stay two months, grunt coders get small payouts if they stay two years).
3. Startup's employees move in to big company's bland megacorp offices. Days or weeks later, the network connections in their recycled cubicles are enabled.
4. Assimilation period is marked by further press releases about how well startup's products fit in with megacorp. Meanwhile, nobody in group comprising former startup personnel has any idea what they're supposed to be doing or who to talk to about it.
5. As retention periods expire, former employees of startup leave megacorp in droves.
6. All products of former startup are re-branded to fit (for the square-peg, round-hole version of "fit") into megacorp's existing product lines. All traces of startup's branding are forcibly excised.
7. Most if not all of former startup's products are canceled. Mention of them and of startup acquisition is removed from megacorp's Web site.
8. After final retention periods expire, all former startup employees flee like rats from a sinking oil tanker.
Trust me, I've been there too many times to count.
I wish nothing but the best for Palm the company, the employees and the products, but this is simply not a good thing. It never is.
Edit to add: Before other commenters jump in with accusations of iPhone trollery or whatever, I'll note that I *love* my Pre and have had in the past: Handspring Visor, Treo 650, T|X. Never had an iPhone, don't want one. Had a brief and ugly flirtation with Windows Mobile between the Treo 650 and the Pre, never want to go back. Okay?
this is absolutely how i foresee it going down
I thought the same, but I just hope that this turns like when ATI was bought by AMD, they kept the brand and the same product line-up as before so no big and weird changes there.
That's a bit pessimistic, but the viability of webOS has already been proven, as isn't usually the case with the products/ideas of start-ups. Additionally, most start-ups don't have the IP value that Palm does.
I didn't think you were being a Pre hater at all. Normally I would agree with your take, but not so much on this. The main reason is the product Palm brings to the table. I agree, when a larger company acquires a smaller, that produces similar product, then the acquired companies items will eventually disappear from the inventory. Yet, in this situation, HP has a need and Palm has the answer.
I know HP has played around in the PDA market. In fact my first PDA was a Jornada. But Palm was much better. That
Sorry weedalin, I meant to reply to AndrewRich. I didn't scroll up far enough.
You'd rather watch Palm die a terminal cancer type death? Here's how the other world works. Small companies, with great ideas, no money, and totally inept at marketing, die, die, die, die, slow painful deaths surrounded by broken hearted friends and family.
And if they're lucky, a chinese company buys them for pennies on the dollar and harvests their organs and diverts profits to foreign shores.
I can live with HP, not the best setup, but Santa Claus and the Easter bunny teaming up to make Palm survive independently wasn't going to work either. Santa has no cash and the Easter Bunny's creativity is limited to egg decorating. (Would have made some nice Pixi backs though).
double post...
guys i know whats gonna happen im coining it right here right now in the comments section.
"""""You have a HP in the PALM of your hand running WEBOS software"""""" Life moves fast...... Skeet
An iPad style device running webOS would definitely rock. I love the finesse with which webOS handles multi-tasking, "synergy" and notifications. This would work great in a larger form-factor, particularly with Flash support so you could watch movies or the news.
I have my fingers crossed, too. I'd really like Palm to maintain it's identity, but with a new parent and backing. Call me weird, but I'd be much more proud to say I have a Palm Pre than an HP pr330 or whatever they'd call it :)
Of all the possibilities, I'm actually a lot more comfortable with this than I would have thought. Yes, there are some cool hardware companies out there, but I'm happy that they're still in the United States. Even though I still will look to Sony before HP when I'm in the market for a laptop, I'm happy that Palm will remain local, so long as they can also maintain the simplicity and common-sense practicality which I love them for.
I didn't vote due to no "neutral" selection. I only think that this is an "Awesome" idea if HP lets palm continue on their present course with added marketing. Otherwise, it's a horrible idea.
I think this is great for the company, I just hope palm doesn't become a cheapest common denominator device like a lot of hp stuff
Well I'm very excited to see this happen. The main reason is bcuz I love this palm pre. I have an iPad but I will drop it in a second for a webos slate mainly bcuz I know it will have all of the things the iPad should have, like USB, sdcard, flash more memory ect. I just hope that the slate can come out really soon.
I was pretty much leaping for joy the very second the ZDnet article about this popped up on my email! I've been a fan of HP's products for some time now, having several of their laptops in the house for the past few years, working great, and looking forward to getting a new core i7 based laptop that offers about double the video editing capabilities of a macbook that would be about 2-3x as expensive.
I honestly believe this acquisition will accelerate the growth of webOS and bring us much greater hardware (hopefully nvidia tegra-based) with hopefully more variation (horizontal slide-out keyboard and non-keyboard models to choose from) and the possibility of a webOS slate. HP will not only be able top accelerate such progress, but could greatly help in marketing
I love HP and I love the palm webos. I have a hp desktop for about six years and no problem with it. I also have a hp laptop for almost one year and no problem with it either. Ofcause I have a 6/6/09 palm pre from sprint. For me, I dont think it is a bad news. HP is great and palm webos is great and I will love both of them together.
This will be a great partnership. Let's face it, the major drag on the Palm Pre was the crappy Chinese hardware! It soured many people early (I was lucky and just only recently had to replace my Pre), and the word spread. I can tell you the last thing the carriers want to deal with is crappy hardware as it reflects on them, i.e. Sprint, and waste a lot of their time. While the diehards on this group, and I count myself one of them, love WebOS, most do not love their hardware and are eagerly waiting for something better in June/July.
HP's core competency (I am an ex-HPer, albeit before their decline due to Carly and then Mark!) is hardware and always will be. They suck at software and always will! So you should expect great hardware down the pipe (NO, not this summer!) and making the Palm experience an all-around joy. The HP smartphones were great hardware but, of course, the software stank ...
I expect that HP will use "Palm" as a consumer brand and use "HP" as the business brand, somewhat similar to what they have done with HP & Compaq. The only bad news is they are not very good at marketing but certainly better than Palm's lame effort. But HP is horrible compared to Apple, but most companies are, so that is not really anything new.
Windows (7) will NEVER succeed as a tablet OS which probably had a lot to do with the purchase of Palm by HP. If you think about tablets/pads being the consumer version of laptops for corporate use, then HP had to do something. [Has anyone forgot the massive failure of all Windows-based tablets to day?} The slate hardware has been ready a long time but what OS to put on it is a very complex question at this point in time.
Everyone knows Windows sucks but it is embedded in the corporate environment and the investments are locked into those corporate budgets. I think HP decided it had to go a different way or lose out on the market, maybe completely! If you look at a WebOS tablet as a device for use by both a consumer, work at home employee, and a corporate information worker, HP would have unique positioning, even against Apple! (Really, a device with no USB, no video conferencing, etc is going to be used in a corporate environment?) HP is not after the consumer market, they are after greater profits!
Ultimately, WebOS could be the key to changing this market completely. When smartphones become an integral part of the IT solution for companies (more than e-mail) and the phones become company property, the iPhone will be shut out, for sure with medium to large companies. (Yes, I know there are exceptions, everything has exceptions!) It will take more than Exchange integration (mindset?) to be able to be part of the corporate IT environment.
Oh, and that "cloud" environment ... Who do you think controls the majority of that server/client market? HP! I always laugh when I hear about "cloud" computing! When I was at HP, we were busy replacing mainframes with workstations, and terminals with PCs. Distributed computing, I believe, is what we called it. I learned a long time ago, the HARD way, that you must backup data in several places and use multiple technology or you will lose that data and the value represented by it.
Finally, YES, Palm will be absorbed by HP and their culture will dominate. Okay, you are surprised by this? My wife was an EDS employee, laid off last May, so I'm not isolated from the issue. But, REALLY, come on, isn't it naive to assume anything else? HP BOUGHT palm! They BOUGHT EDS, reduced the head count which was extremely high for both their revenue and the industry. They reduced salaries across the board to match what HP employees make as well as others in the industry. I'm not a Mark Hurd fan (he is a bean counter, and has a poor history of introducing innovation) but these were not unexpected moves.
The biggest challenge for HP will be to support a software development environment and the talent to man it. But this is already in place, and Jon should be an excellent point of integration, I think there is a good chance this will work, and I have high hopes for Palm as a independent business unit, but they will have to make money!
what happen to all of those that wanted to jump ship to the htc evo. where are you all now!!!!!!
Don't be so eager to keep things the way they are at palm. This is the management that sold it own os, rushed a new phone out with crappy hardware, gave us the the borg queen spokesmodel, brought the pre out right before iphone 3gs and to verizon after the droid. Lets hope hp expands on webos potential, and cans the keystone cop management.
We can all be thankful for one thing regarding HP, Carly isn't in charge anymore.
anybody have an idea of how Elevation Partners made out with this? Are they making money off their 30% stake, or was their investment @ a higher stock price than $5.70 a share?
The deal has to be approved by the stock holders. There is no way that Elevation Partners would approve of this deal unless they make a healthy return and/or they have their holdings, or some portion of it, converted to HP stock. I don't think that later scenario is as likely.
They are making a little money. But considering what they risked versus what the made in profit, this is a fail by VC standards.
And, yes they would do a deal where they lose money. There is no tomorrow, Palm's value drops every day that goes by. They needed to get their money out of Palm. At its very best, Palm was going to move forward in slow motion and they need there money to be someplace with positive growth, not trying to end years of negative cashflow.
I'm still going to get the EVO is Palm doesn't announce anything, but not at least I know the only thing I did like about my Pre (WebOS) MIGHT have a chance..
Now if Dell were to buy/merge with palm, then I'd be happy.
I have to be honest. I know alot of people are saying HP is great, but they do have a history of bad computers in the past. I hope they have improved (Havent had one in years) on that? This makes me a little nervous. However, they have great operating capital which could mean good things for Palm. Like better and more marketing, money for new devices, and money to expand and grow WebOS. I hope this turns out to be great for Palm because I was one of those considering the EVO. I may just wait until after the launch to see if Palm gives us some new hardware. Keeping my fingers crossed that this drastically improves the WebOS community
Well,they are the largest maker in the world. I'm guessing they did something right and some people with limited samplings have to accept the reality that HP is generally regarded as a quality operation in an industry that has chased out most of the lesser manufacturers.
This will be *interesting* to see what happens. WebOS has the potential now of giving Apple, RIM, Android, & the rest some serious competition, IF HP breaks it free from the moribund Palm way of doing things and the Pre (yes, you read correctly). Palm said, "This is the future, and we know better than you do about it"; the tech mags & sites gave it rave reviews; but, for some reason, all those stupid consumers and ignorant market couldn't comprehend that, so the Goodship Palm kept sinking.
Who knows? Perhaps HP will make Palm tweak webOS so it can do what DataViz has so greatly longed for: run a webOS version of Docs-To-Go!
At first i didn't know what to think. Now though i'm bloody excited
At first I was sceptical about it. Now that this is reality we have to make the best out of it. I hope that the ideas of palm will give HP folks something to wonder and cherish about. webOS is the best system already and with a major R&D investement could be on the rise not only on phones...but it needs to evolve whilst at the same time to keep it's spirit...that is a task there.
Cautious for now. With any new merger/acquisition, both parties always make public announcements about being excited and how the merger is in both parties' best interests. Also they make committments that things won't change (Rubi staying on, etc.), but the devil is always in the long term. Let's see where Palm, WebOS, and Rubi are a year or two from now). Also, it took Palm so long to get WebOS out the door because of years of restructuring, managment changes, etc. Let's hope the same hurdles don't occur again and distract from development of new hardware and Web OS improvements.
im all about it as long as palm stays it self intact maybe with a little more muscle , sounds gud to me