14 DAY TRIAL // HP’s presence on the smartphone market hasn’t been a noticeable one, despite the fact that the company bought the dying, yet popular Palm and its webOS. However, it appears that this will change in the not too distant future.
Hewlett-Packard does plan on making a return to the smartphone market after having gotten rid of Palm’s mobile OS earlier this year.
In a recent interview with The Indian Express, Yam Su Yin, HP’s senior director for Consumer PCs and Media Tablets in the Asia Pacific region, confirmed that the computer maker was working on a smartphone as well, though no specific info the device itself has been provided.
“The answer is yes but I cannot give a timetable. It would be silly if we say no. HP has to be in the game,” Yam Su Yin said when asked about HP’s plans on building a smartphone.
“Being late you have to create a different set of proposition. There are still things that can be done. Its [sic] not late. When HP has a smartphone, it will give a differentiated experience.” Yin also said.
She also confirmed that the company was focused on all segments of the market, including tablet PCs, notebook PCs, and all-in-ones (AIOs).
HP’s previous attempt to make a name for itself in the smartphone market ended up in a failure, although it paid $1.2 billion (€0.92 billion) for Palm back in 2010.
Although webOS devices did not manage to impress, the smartphone market is continuously expanding, and it should reach 958.8 million units in 2013, up from 722.5 million last year, which means that there’s a lot of room for HP to cash on the opportunity.
What remains to be seen, however, is what mobile OS HP plans on loading on its own smartphone, and what exactly the aforementioned differentiated experience will involve. Stay tuned for more on the matter.