Hewlett-Packard does not plan to copy Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) strategy, according to a top HP executive. However, like Apple, HP will not license out Palm's webOS platform, which HP acquired in its $1.2 billion purchase of Palm earlier this year.
Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group, told the audience at TechCrunch's Disrupt conference that "emulating Apple is not part of our strategy," according to CNet. Bradley was responding to a question about whether HP bought Palm so it could produce an array of devices with unique couplings of hardware and software, as Apple has done with the Mac, iPod and iPhone. Bradley said HP has to cater to a variety of constituencies, including enterprise users.
Bradley, who led Palm's hardware division after the company split off its software operations, said HP won't license out webOS. Instead, the firm will focus on putting webOS on smartphones, tablets and into printers. HP plans to release a webOS tablet in the first part of next year.
In a bit of corporate intrigue, TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington asked Bradley at the start of their conversation, "So, you're the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is that correct?" Bradley laughed off the suggestion, but there has been widespread speculation that Bradley could be in line for the top job at HP. The company has been without a permanent CEO since former chief Mark Hurd resigned Aug. 6 amid an expenses-report scandal; HP CFO Cathie Lesjak has taken over on an interim basis while the company searches for a replacement.
For more:
- see this CNet article
- see this AllThingsD post
- see this CNN Money article
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