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HP To Buy Palm For $1.2 Billion
necro81 writes "Palm, Inc., which has struggled in recent months after making a splash with its Pre smartphone, will be bought by HP, the world's largest computer maker. The deal has been approved by both companies' boards, and should be wrapped up this summer. HP will get Palm for about $5.70/share (about 20% above today's closing price), or about $1.2 billion. That's a pretty good deal, considering that in the months following the launch of the Pre on Sprint's network, Palm's share price topped $16. But marketing blunders hindered the Pre's more widespread adoption on other carriers, and the company's very existence has recently seemed in doubt."
Finally a decent OS to run on the SuperDomes!
Average Intelligence is a Scary Thing
Great - does this mean we'll have to make all our calls using RPN?
1234 555 212 1+ DIAL
I know it's supposed to be more logical, but it just seems so confusing...
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
Smart move if HP is thinking about getting back into the phone business. They probably threw the idea around and came to the conclusion that they'd be another also-ran if they just pushed Android/WP7 sets (Especially since thats the move Dell is making)
As a Pre owner I would be glad to see WebOS on some adequate hardware, and in a tablet form as well.
I wondered why at first, but then figured out that HP can let Palm and its products die completely, while making money with the patents alone.
You got it wrong, his (right) palm is a nerd's best friend!
"When in doubt, use brute force." Ken Thompson
It's amazing the effect that one creepy girl can have on a share price.
Seriously. That last one is the worst. Using a phone is like the transmigration of souls?
Boo. In fairness, it's not the girl's fault at all.
By "marketing blunders", do they mean Palm's "The Most Pale Woman in the World" campaign? Because I've gotta say, she really didn't sell me on a Palm, or anything else.
She looked more like an extra from the Lord of the Rings (generic elf maiden #38) than a spokesmodel for a technical product.
John
It's my fault. I had to replace a few ink cartridges in my printer. That, alone, probably paid for Palm.
I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
Since HP already own 3COM, who spun off Palm in 2000 (with a first day valuation of something like 30 times what they are paying for it today), one could almost say that Palm is being bought back after 10 (not so happy) years as an independent company.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Say what you will but HP is one of very few that actually fully support Linux. Not long ago I got one of their new multifunction inkjets and it works across the board with Linux (wireless printing, wireless scanning, everything) and I didn't need to do anything special to make it work. Good luck getting that anywhere else.
But who would want to, when they are covered with hair?
Why?
WebOS has a better UI than Android does. And yes I am an Android user my wife has a Pre. WebOS is a good OS that had a STUPID SDK for a long time. They have fixed that and will soon offer access to the camera and mic which should help even more.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Their market cap is 125 billion dollars.
That makes the half the size of Apple, but five times Dell's size.
She might be a bit creepy, but I certainly wouldn't refuse her Palm.
which is totally what she said
I was worried Palm was just going to fade away.
Yup, now it's going to enjoy the same level of long term success as the Alpha, OpenVMS, Tru64...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Facepalm
HP are still that big? I haven't seen one of their products in years.
300,000 full-time employees. Market cap $125 Billion. Indexed in the Dow Industrials. S&P 100, etc. In the U.S., second only to IBM in computer hardware sales. Does any of this ring a bell?
HPQ Competitors
Say what you will but HP is one of very few that actually fully support Linux
Okay, I'll give them that. I guess I'm mostly dismayed by how far HP has fallen over the years. At one time, a person could count on anything he bought from them to be a good product, probably the best available. Beginning with the Carly Fiorina era, though, it's been all downhill for them. They don't even make all that great built-like-a-brick-shithouse test equipment that they built their reputation on anymore.
This ain't rocket surgery.
Perhaps their new name should be HPalm3Compaq.
On the plus side, it means they'll sell the new Palm phones for practically nothing!
However, replacement batteries will cost $100. Also, they can't be recharged and the one that comes with the phone will only last you about 10 minutes.
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
Hey, I'm left handed you insensitive clod!
Does my memory fail me, or is HP the company that couldn't even do a decent job of selling iPods, the handheld-electronics equivalent of crack-covered pancakes?
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
HP has finally realized that in addition to being in competition with Cisco/VMWare/EMC in the datacenter, they're also in competition with Apple in the consumer gadgetry department. This probably comes out of Apple passing Microsoft on the S&P 500 last week. This is actually a good thing. $1.2B isn't a big deal to get Palm's patent portfolio and add some phones to their product list as well.
It also means they have no intention of going down with the WinTel ship. They're going to make a fight of it.
I hope they come out with a decent ARM based Android slate. I won't be buying that Intel Atom+Windows 7 version.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Imagine if they launched their campaign with this commercial instead. Palm's life would be SOOOO different.
Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. This wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange.