HP to buy Palm for $1.2 billion

[Alex23]

Bad move!!!!

Plus they were supposed to buy us first 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hewlett-Packard announced Wednesday that it would buy struggling smart phone maker Palm for $1.2 billion.

HP (HPQ, Fortune 500) -- which is known more for its computers, notebooks and printers than its smart phones -- will buy Palm (PALM) for $5.70 a share in cash, a 23% premium over Palm's closing price of $4.64 on Wednesday. After hours, shares of Palm soared 28%, while shares of HP fell less than 1%.

"Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices," Todd Bradley, vice president of HP, said in a prepared statement.

On a conference call with analysts, Bradley said HP is looking to increase its market share in the rapidly growing smart phone market. He said the deal represents a "significant opportunity for profitable growth."

"HP and Palm will make a powerful combination," said Bradley. "Palm has a deep bench of engineering talent ... but Palm is operating [at a] loss right now, so we have some work to do."

Palm was the subject of takeover rumors for months, as the company has struggled to sell its Pre and Pixi smart phones. Taiwan's HTC had been a rumored favorite to take over the company, because Palm's patents could possibly have aided HTC in its legal dispute with Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). But HTC reportedly said last week it was not interested in buying the company.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/28/technology/hp_palm/index.htm

[BIG ACH]

Just read about that too, I really thought HTC would go for it, but then they ran!  HTC have been producing phones for palm for quite sometime actually so I thought it woulda worked out well in a way.

[Alex23]

Just read about that too, I really thought HTC would go for it, but then they ran!  HTC have been producing phones for palm for quite sometime actually so I thought it woulda worked out well in a way.

Exactly. Not sure what HP is trying to do here; probably just interested in the patents and some key technologies.

My guess is whatever HP comes out with it will be WinMo 7 based with some enhancements coming from Palm...

[Rearden Metal]

King, approximately how rich will you be when your company is bought?

[Red Hook]

Just read about that too, I really thought HTC would go for it, but then they ran!  HTC have been producing phones for palm for quite sometime actually so I thought it woulda worked out well in a way.

HTC buying Palm never made sense to me. HTC is a hardware company and buying Palm would only be for the OS, this would put them at odds with their partners namely MSFT and GOOG.


HTC is generating record profits from MSFT and GOOG, why compete against them and turn allies into enemies?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/htc-expects-36-percent-increase-in-q2-sales-thanks-android/

[CalvinH]

I have the smart pre plus and it's a good phone.

[BIG ACH]

HTC buying Palm never made sense to me. HTC is a hardware company and buying Palm would only be for the OS, this would put them at odds with their partners namely MSFT and GOOG.


HTC is generating record profits from MSFT and GOOG, why compete against them and turn allies into enemies?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/htc-expects-36-percent-increase-in-q2-sales-thanks-android/

Thats a good point for sure, didn't think about it this way!