Earlier this month, Samsung emphatically denied plans to acquire Hewlett-Packard's PC business. But what about weboS?
A new report from Digitimes says that Samsung has recruited Raymond Wah, former vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), to head up Samsung's PC sales. The company is also reportedly weighing the option of buying webOS in order to compete against Apple and Google, Digitimes said, citing "sources from notebook players."
Earlier this month, Geosung Choi, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung, said in a statement that "Samsung Electronics will not acquire Hewlett-Packard's PC Business." According to Digitimes, that PC business has somewhat low gross margins, which could hurt Samsung's panel and DRAM businesses.
In analyzing who should buy webOS, PCMag's Jamie Lendino suggested that Samsung had invested a lot in its own Android software and also has "bada," pointing to HTC as a more likely suitor. Digitimes, however, said Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility might have prompted Samsung to consider webOS as a backup rather than putting all its eggs into one Android basket.
PCMag's Lendino (and John Dvorak) suggested that HP should really just open source webOS. "WebOS is infinitely more usable than OpenMoko ever was. And we all know by now that while Android itself is open-source, it really isn't by the time carriers and phone vendors are done with it. It's also mired in patent licensing issues that do end up costing vendors real money," Lendino wrote.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments. For more, see the "Who Should Buy HP's PC Group?" slideshow below.
Update: At the IFA trade show in Berlin, Choi said that Samsung would "never" buy webOS.