You can cross Samsung off the list of potential buyers for HP's webOS, according to Samsung's CEO, Gee-Sung Choi.
During a Q&A with reporters at the IFA show in Berlin, Choi said his company would "never" buy webOS, according to Bloomberg. "It's not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion," he continued. Samsung is instead focusing on its own software efforts, particularly bada, Choi insisted.
Reports about Samsung's interest in webOS got started earlier this week when a report from Digitimes said that Samsung had recruited Raymond Wah, former vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), to head up Samsung's PC sales. Citing "sources from notebook players," the publication went on to say that Samsung was weighing the option of buying webOS in order to compete against Apple and Google.
In analyzing who should buy webOS, PCMag's Jamie Lendino suggested that Samsung had invested a lot in its own Android software and 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.
Choi, at least, is not convinced. He also recently shot down the idea that Samsung would buy HP's PC business. "Samsung Electronics will not acquire Hewlett-Packard's PC Business," he said in a statement.
This week, meanwhile, HP confirmed that it wants to spin off its PC business, positioning the division as a "$40 billion start-up."
On webOS, PCMag's Lendino (and John Dvorak) suggested that HP should really just open source it. "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.
Check out PCMag's Who Should Buy HP's PC Group?, and for more from IFA, see the slideshow below.