HP To Buy Palm For $1.2 Billion

Today HP announced that it plans to buy ailing smartphone maker Palm for the price of $1.2 billion. "We're thrilled by HP's vote of confidence in Palm's technological leadership," said Palm CEO Jon RubsinsteinWell, that was fast. Speculation has been mounting that Palm would be acquired by a larger firm with a better cash position, but I doubt many expected it to happen so quickly. Today, HP announced that it bought Palm for the price of $5.70 per share, which amounts to about $1.2 billion.

In a press release, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein said, "We're thrilled by HP's vote of confidence in Palm's technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP's longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS. We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners."

HP's two cents (well, OK, $1.2 billion) on the deal were contributed by Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group. He said, "Palm's innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP's mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices. And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market."

The acquisition has already been approved by the boards of both companies, but regulatory approval is still required. The deal is expected to close later this year.

Hopefully HP's financial and other resources will be able to turn Palm's webOS into the successful smartphone platform that it should be.