HP's Apotheker plans to extend WebOS to other vendors

MAKER OF EXPENSIVE PRINTER INK HP is planning to offer WebOS to other vendors, which could put it in competition with Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Responding to a question at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, HP's CEO, Leo Apotheker said, "There's no reason to believe that the only hardware that can run [WebOS] is HP's. Why wouldn't we try to make it available to other people?"

He said the potential partners for WebOS don't have to be just information technology hardware makers in the classical sense, but that makers of both control devices and appliances could use WebOS to create connectivity between their devices and the internet.

"We'd like to make WebOS available to these people, as we're going to make WebOS available to enterprises, or, indeed, to [small-to-medium businesses]," he added.

Apotheker was asked if he would partner with companies like HTC to make more WebOS smartphones, to which he responded, "That is certainly something that we would entertain."

This is an intriguing statement, as it hints at a possible game plan by HP to make WebOS a direct competitor to the various mobile operating systems out there, such as Google's Android, Apple's IOS, and Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.

It seems unlikely that WebOS will offer any real competition in the consumer market, but the potential in business circles could particularly upset Research in Motion's Blackberry monopoly. That is, of course, if HP manages to get HTC, Samsung or some other mobile manufacturer onboard.

HP acquired WebOS when it bought Palm for $1.2bn in April 2010. The operating system has been launched on only a small number of devices, and the Palm Pre and Pixi smartphones failed to generate much interest.

HP's WebOS Touchpad tablet is on the way, however, and the PCs the company ships in 2012 will be able to run the operating system, so HP is certainly looking to extend its reach. Whether or not it can expand WebOS beyond its own borders and find some partners for this endeavour remains to be seen. µ