Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#1

Post by mjfern » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 5:35 AM UTC

Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm
venturebeat.com

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#2

Post by rkalla » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:03 AM UTC

We saw the launch of the Kindle Fire and have seen Amazon's hand with the custom build of Android that looks/feels nothing like Android... anyone have any guesses why they would want WebOS?

Amazon already has the Android store, all the Android integration done for the Fire and the Java/Android expertise in house... where does WebOS fit in?

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#3

Post by r00fus » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:07 AM UTC

The patents alone would be worth it to Amazon... who likely have no really interesting mobile hardware or software patents of their own.

Interesting note about Ruby's being on the Amazon board too, didn't notice that earlier.

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#4

Post by fpgeek » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:08 AM UTC

To me the detail that doesn't ring true is that HP would sell Palm at a substantial loss. Last I heard, people thought HP could at least recoup the purchase price (or more) based on the "value" of Palm's patents alone. I suppose HP could be selling Palm with only patent licenses (instead of the patents themselves), but that seems like a strange thing to do on both sides.

If HP were being clever, I could see them leaking their discussions with Amazon right now (when Amazon is on everyone's mind) as a way to motivate the "real" buyer (presumably Google or Apple). But I don't give HP credit for being that clever.

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#5

Post by michaelpinto » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:10 AM UTC

I first misread that as "Amazon in talks to buy HP" and what's funny is that it didn't shock me. On the other hand if they only got Palm that would be great for IP.

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#6

Post by daeken » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:10 AM UTC

Please do, then sell Be off to someone that will do something with it. Please?

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#7

Post by ary » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:28 AM UTC

rkalla wrote: post #2

We saw the launch of the Kindle Fire and have seen Amazon's hand with the custom build of Android that looks/feels nothing like Android... anyone have any guesses why they would want WebOS? Amazon already has the Android store, all the Android integration done for the Fire and the Java/Android expertise in house... where does WebOS fit in?

User interface design perhaps? Although my impression is that all that talent already bailed on HP.

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#8

Post by Apocryphon » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:34 AM UTC

I hope that whomever HP sells Palm off to will bring back the brand.

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#9

Post by kylec » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:35 AM UTC

daeken wrote: post #6

Please do, then sell Be off to someone that will do something with it. Please?

Be went with PalmSource back when Palm was split into PalmOne and PalmSource. PalmOne then re-became Palm and was acquired by HP, but PalmSource was picked up by ACCESS.

Re: Amazon in talks with HP to buy Palm

#10

Post by sksultan » Fri, Sep 30, 2011, 6:49 AM UTC

rkalla wrote: post #2

We saw the launch of the Kindle Fire and have seen Amazon's hand with the custom build of Android that looks/feels nothing like Android... anyone have any guesses why they would want WebOS? Amazon already has the Android store, all the Android integration done for the Fire and the Java/Android expertise in house... where does WebOS fit in?

a) HP's probably offering it for pennies. Too good of a deal for any tablet/mobile player.

b) Amazon Silk is a game changer that probably has Google fuming. Buying Palm is probably a hedge bet in case Google clamps down. The end-user platform(devise, OS, browser) war between Google, Apple, and MS is to control the user data. Amazon wants to make sure it has an unrestricted piece of that data.