February is LG's month. LG announced this month new smartphones, including the high-end, 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro, mid-rangers Optimus F5 and F7, and the second generation of affordable line of L series of handsets and touted those at the MWC. Now Hewlett-Packard has confirmed that LG's buying its webOS operating system for a still-to-be-disclosed price. LG said it has no intension to use webOS in mobile phones, as it is happy to use Google's Android mobile operating system in its smartphones. LG plans to take advantage of webOS in its smart television and other consumer electronics products.
What Else You Need To Know
- HP paid $1.2 billion to buy the webOS business from Palm in 2010 as part of the world's top PC maker's plans to penetrate the lucrative mobile devices market.
- HP's first webOS-based tablet -- the $499 HP TouchPad -- faced very poor demand and ended up in $99 liquidation sales.
- LG will be obtaining ownership of the webOS source code, documentation, and the team behind webOS and will obtain licenses to Palm and webOS patents.
- While the exact terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, neither company expects the deal to have a material impact on its financials.
Other sources
It’s the latest twist in a long saga of the software developed to be the reinvention of a classic name in the mobile space.- Ina Fried, All Things Digital
Even in fifth place, LG's managed to sell more Android smartphones and than HP did webOS devices.- Derek Kessler, webOS Nation
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