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Hewlett-Packard buys struggling Palm for $1.2bn
The computer giant Hewlett-Packard has agreed to buy the struggling smartphone company Palm for $1.2 billion, ending the independence of the pioneer of the personal digital device.
The move will give the world’s largest PC maker immediate entry to the rapidly growing market for smartphones, which is currently dominated by Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, Apple’s iPhone and Nokia.
Palm’s smartphone webOS operating system, launched last year, was well received, but sales of Palm’s handsets, the Pre and the Pixi, have proved disappointing.
HP will pay $5.70 for every Palm common share, a 23 per cent premium over Palm’s $4.63 closing price on Wednesday. The company will pay nearly $1 billion in cash and cover Palm’s debt, making the total deal worth $1.2 billion.
The move will give the world’s largest PC maker immediate entry to the rapidly growing market for smartphones, which is currently dominated by Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, Apple’s iPhone and Nokia.
Palm’s smartphone webOS operating system, launched last year, was well received, but sales of Palm’s handsets, the Pre and the Pixi, have proved disappointing.
HP will pay $5.70 for every Palm common share, a 23 per cent premium over Palm’s $4.63 closing price on Wednesday. The company will pay nearly $1 billion in cash and cover Palm’s debt, making the total deal worth $1.2 billion.
