HP Looking to Sell Palm, Amazon Interested?

I just don’t know why Amazon would want a new OS.  They obviously put a lot of work into modifying Android to suit their needs and they already have an Android app Marketplace.  I’m just not seeing where this is going and would feel a lot better about HTC or a hardware company.  This reeks of patent grabbing to me.

I think it’s great that WebOS isn’t dead. And I think Amazon has proved that they are a true contender to Apple in the tablet space.

At this point, I don’t think it matters. As long as WebOS gets out of HP’s hands as they self destruct.

if Amazon decides to keep webOS and not change the UI like they did with the kindle fire, and they release phones, I’m ok with it as I think Amazon could bring webOS to a much greater audience. If they’re looking to buy it just for patents, then I would stop buying from Amazon.

I am not sure about them buying it just for patents and here’s why (my thoughts though). If webOS is actually in negotiations with multiple companies, and Ruby is still on board, I doubt Ruby (who is also on the Amazon board of directors) would want to have Amazon rip his baby apart. His interest is keeping webOS alive. If Amazon’s intentions are to just buy it for patents, I think Ruby would put a stop to that and start looking at the other bids (if there truly are any)

There’s obviously behind-the-scenes bidding going on for the webOS software, division and related patents.  This is just like the Palm sale all over again.  We’ll continue to hear webOS/ rumors until a sale is announced.  Each suitor would have their own interests.

For example, as possible suitors, we have HTC (could use the OS on phones/tablets), Amazon (interested in tablets and patents), Samsung (said they weren’t interested in owning webOS – they already own Bada and just signed a patent sharing deal with Microsoft), Apple (not rumored recently but bid on Palm, probably for patents), Facebook, other darkhorse possibilities (ZTE/Lenovo/Huwai/LG).  Did I miss anyone…?

A recent report said that HP is continuing with webOS printer plans so any sale would require some sort of cross-patent/cross-licensing aspect that would give HP perpetual access/licensing rights. 

Has Amazon’s stock price dropped yet?

Face it. Webos is cursed. The problem isn’t just mismanagement of the products. It is also that webos inherently has problems. Anyone who picks it up will have problems with their stockholders. Webos is sluggish and has a native calendar app that can’t even provide an event reminder more than one day in advance. The only reason to buy it would be to own the patents.

Now don’t get me wrong, because I really used to love webos, and still love its user interface. But its just no longer competitive. And that’s the problem.

If I remember correctly, HP wanted webOS to work its printers because Android was not stable. They released 1 printer running Android, but had a lot of trouble with it and said so when that printer was sold. Not much said about that printer. Has Amazon found the same Android problems? That would explain why Amazon would want webOS.

I see a lot of complaining about the idea of an Amazon purchase, but just let me point out that of ANY potential suitor, Amazon is the only company with the corporate infrastructure, experience and _vision_ to do anything useful with WebOS.  Say what you like about Bezos, but don’t say the man is lacking vision or guts.

A manufacturer cannot handle WebOS.  Why not?  Well, _because_ they are manufacturers.  Manufacturers, by and large, are device centric and they (seemingly) have no clue about the concept of creating an end to end experience for the users of their products.  Apple is obviously different in this regard, but for most manufacturers, it is almost as if ‘ecosystem’ and ‘integration’ are foreign concepts to them.  They just don’t have either the vision or the desire to put in the sort of investment it will take to compete with Apple, and we’ve seen how well the alternative approach works out.

Amazon has already demonstrated they have both the vision and the capability to to do this sort of work.  They have their own cloud architecture (AWS), they manage huge data centers, they manage a huge online store that provides both digital and hard products, and they manage a significant software development program.  They would be much more capable of doing something substantive with WebOS that would make it a viable force in the market.

Listen, this is blunt: an OS that is disconnected from an eco-system for these kinds of consumer devices is destined to fail.  If all I can do on the thing is browse the web, then the device still has too many limitations for most consumers – the value story just isn’t there.  It doesn’t matter how cool it is, or how nifty, or how many propellers it turns on the hats geeks like us wear – it will not sell in a significant volume.  It has to be the gateway to services that consumers want, and ‘cool OS’ is not a ‘service’ consumers want.  Pair ‘cool OS’ with ‘highly integrated service offerings’ and that’s a different story.

The sobering reality, folks, is that right now WebOS is dead.  It isn’t ‘almost dead’, ‘might be dead’, ‘probably going to die’, or ‘on life support’; it is DEAD.  Like a chicken with its head cut off, it may be flopping around a bit, but the lights are already out.  Unless someone comes along with the vision, capability, and means to do something valuable with WebOS, it is simply going to stay that way.  Amazon is a GREAT match in this regard.  It may mean the end of WebOS phones, but so what?  How would that differ from the current situation?

If amazon buys it they should use it for tablets and license it to phone manufactures.

All I care about is who ever owns webOS has a passion for it to be the best it can be. And will do what it takes to do that and keep it that way. Right now it is still the best mobile OS, in my opinion, and I would hate to see it die if nobody cares to continue with it. Right now there is the 2nd largest tablet share with webOS. We can’t count smrtphones since we don’t have current generation fleet of them. However it is clear from the initial success that with quality 3.5″, 4″ and 4.5 inch devices with verticle, horizontal, and only virtual KB options webOS will be 2nd in the smartphone share as well. The only reason android has it’s market share is because of a form factor and design for everyone. Heck they have android on devices that are nothing more than fancy dumbphones since they basically can only do dumbphone stuff. So with a fleet of smartphones webOS should have no problem taking 2nd in smartphones.

Hp absolutely canNOT sell this to a hardware manufacturer and watch webos succeed, so this is their only opportunity to save face and recoup their investment. HP has never been a successful consumer company like Amazon. Their consumer products are garbage. Touchpad is the best they will ever produce for the consumer. If amazon can strip the inefficiencies from android, there’s hope it can do the same for webos. There isn’t a lot of downside now since the kindle fire is ready. The next release with webos is a no-brainer. They aren’t starting from scratch & their servers aren’t going to crash from too much demand. When amazon’s name came up a year pre-hp, then, yes, there’s some doubt. Amazon, however, is all in with a strategy and most notably, content to push in a way no other suitor can use the os to monetize. Hp can save face by saying, see? We had the right idea but the wrong manufacturing infrastructure. Webos has the nine lives of a cat, and I’m very surprised to hear myself say this. It won’t stop me from my iphone fix on sprint next week, but I’ll be picking up another touchpad sooner or later after returning mine pre-firesale for a refund

This is an intriguing sale and the only one that I think would work. pAmazon would be a great product. Amazon gets a great UI and a patent portfolio that protects it, webos gets a company with massive access to all the content we’ve been missing out on.