HP Wanted $1.2 Billion for WebOS, No Wonder Negotiations Failed

HP's failure to sell the webOS division makes a lot of sense now that the amount of money it wanted in exchange for it has come to light.

The IT industry is a place where various demands, ranging from pertinent to outrageous, are made every year.

One could have easily thought they had heard everything back when Microsoft was demanding veto rights on whatever devices Barnes & Noble tried to make in the future.

What HP wanted in exchange for its webOS division may make onlookers reconsider that assumption.

According to VentureBeat, the company wanted no less than 1.2 billion dollars.

This is the same sum it spent when acquiring Palm in 2010, meaning that HP wanted to recover its full investment.

Needless to say, all the trading partners that were scouting the operating system (and the team behind it) scattered in the four winds.

VentureBeat says that the sum was voiced during a rumored meeting between HP and Facebook.

The report also says that HP's negotiators were essentially “laughed out of the room” (the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, supposedly stayed mostly silent).

One can only wonder why HP even considered the possibility of selling the business for such a lofty price, even if it had lowered it as talks progressed.

It was obvious to everyone who bothered to keep half an eye on the whole TouchPad and webOS debacle that the Palm assets had drastically declined in value.

Perhaps the company never really intended to let go of webOS so it only explored the idea of selling it off just in case they got a deal they couldn't refuse.

No doubt Intel, Samsung and even Amazon could have afforded to make the transaction if webOS was worth it but, at that point, it already was not.

In the end, HP decided to just make the software open source and keep the possibility open for a new webOS tablet down the line, in 2013 perhaps.