HP may have bought Palm and that company’s WebOS for use in its own Whole Widget tablets and smartphones, but the company is not out to be like Apple, according to one of the company’s executives. Todd Bradley, Executive Vice President, Consumer Products, made the comments at TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 when asked if his company was trying to follow Apple down the iOS path.
“Emulating Apple is not part of our strategy,” Mr. Bradley said, according to a CNet report from the event. He said that HP needs to be able to offer custom solutions to Enterprise customers. To this end, his company intends to use WebOS in its own smartphones, tablets, and even printers.
Kind of like Apple has iOS smartphones and tablets, though it is unlike Apple, which no longer makes printers.
In addition, HP currently has no plans to license WebOS to other companies, preferring to keep it in house, under its control, for use in hardware it developers.
You know, kind of like Apple.
We should also note that HP is in the process of looking for a new CEO. HP was very, very successful under former CEO Mark Hurd, who was fired in the wake of a sexual harassment investigation (that found he did not break company rules), and it’s likely the company’s board of directors is going to look for a replacement that can continue and extend the company’s existing strategies.
Be that as it may, whomever replaces Mr. Hurd is going to have his or her own thoughts on WebOS. Accordingly, the company’s plans for WebOS could change.