CEO Leo Apotheker says company is in talks with potential licensees to use its mobile platform. Hewlett-Packard Co. will aggressively market its WebOS operating system to other hardware manufacturers, part of a strategy to push the highly regarded operating system as an alternative platform for mobile devices.
H-P Chief Executive Leo Apotheker (photo) said on Wednesday the Palo Alto, Calif.-based technology giant has already begun courting potential licensees to use the software. H-P is expected to launch its own tablet computer, dubbed TouchPad, over the summer.
"I happen to believe WebOS is a uniquely outstanding operating system and there's no reason to believe the only hardware that can run it is H-P," Apotheker said at The Wall Street Journal's "D9: All Things Digital" conference in southern California.
H-P acquired WebOS when it rebooted its mobile device business by purchasing Palm Inc. last year. The company expects to use WebOS in a host of devices, including tablets, printers and computers. Apotheker hinted that WebOS might even have a broader use outside of business and consumer technology.
"There are many people who make all kinds of devices, why wouldn't they want to use WebOS?" Apotheker said."Appliance makers can use WebOS."
The strategy potentially puts H-P into competition with a host of technology heavyweights, including Google Inc., which makes the Android mobile operating system, and Microsoft Corp., which makes the venerable Windows operating system. Meanwhile, H-P's TouchPad tablet computer will also compete against Apple Inc.'s market-leading iPad.
Apotheker acknowledged that H-P is coming to the game late. But, he said that has given the company time to refine WebOS.
"It has come a long, long way," he said."We're getting WebOS ready for prime time."
