If HP cannot sell the WebOS and its PC business, then the company should put the WebOS into the open source pot and let the developer community play with it as it wishes. This would allow Microsoft, Apple, Google, and anyone else who wants to use all or part of the system to do so.
On the computer side of the HP game, I'm sure Dell would love to be handed the business for no down payment in exchange for some stock, or whatever. Otherwise, Lenovo and Acer might be interested in the HP product line. You should note that while the products from HP barely differ from Dell's, HP has distribution channels that are much more attractive.
Despite this talk of getting out of the PC hardware business, the last time I went to Fry's Electronics, HP machines lined the shelves. There were few Dells and fewer Lenovos. HP controls the channel. Dell could do worse than pick up the entire HP channel for its machines. But Lenovo and Acer would also like the channels.
However, the WebOS interests me more since it could be the sleeper in this pad computing game. Many people loved this operating system and its history is pure thoroughbred. I mean, it stems from the Palm folks who pretty much perfected the path to the modern handheld user interface.
If WebOS was made into an open source product, I can assure you some new ideas would hit the street.
Right now, there are only two real options for a pad. And there are three wannabees.
You have the iOS from Apple obviously taking first, with Android running a distant second, insofar as tablet computers are concerned. While the Android phone OS seems to be holding its own and perhaps even dominating the market for smartphones, nobody wants an Android tablet. The OS has been hard to scale for tablets because nobody considered them when WebOS was first developed for small screens.
If I was going to buy a tablet today, I'd buy an iPad without hesitation. Price would be the only dissuading factor. But, if you haven't noticed, Apple pricing has been very competitive lately, with only small premiums going towards the Apple product. In other words, if I cannot get something as good as the iPad for half the price, I'll buy an iPad.
Thus, Apple will own the market unless someone can compete on some basis other than price. Microsoft cannot do it. Android is a dead end. RIM already blew it with their unusable tablet that was syncable only with a Blackberry. That company is clueless and I do not see that changing.
While you can't see me, I'm looking directly at the open source community. An open source WebOS could keep things interesting with a cheap competitive pad computer. Surely, they would immediately post sorely needed apps for the thing. That would garner some interest, especially if everyone coveted one killer app.
With this move, HP could change the game. Hopefully it will do the right thing and fling WebOS into the open source pot soon.