Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology.
The last Switched On discussed why HP can have more success licensing webOS than Palm or PalmSource ever did with with Palm OS. To place it within the context of a more modern conflict, HP’s handsets will be the equivalent of a Google Nexus devices (but selling better in HP’s ideal), competing with phones from other Android stakeholders. Even the Nexus phones, however, are ultimately produced by existing licensees reminiscent of HTC and Samsung.
WebOS as a certified operating system would likely compete most directly with Windows Phone 7, an OS that provides licensees and consumers some choice but preserves a consistent user experience — particularly because it is attempting to court developers. Unlike Windows Phone 7, though, webOS is rapidly being expanded to new form factors, with the TouchPad serving because the first tangible proof.
HP has said that it’s most interested licensing to companies that wouldn’t compete with it in its core markets. For now, let’s count out HP’s major PC competitors Acer, Dell (which once can have tried to construct its own webOS-like platform when it acquired Zing), Lenovo and Toshiba. However, many companies that can help develop meaningful (in relation to absolute volume but in addition as a relevant development platform) scale for webOS in a minimum of the U.S. market offer, at minimum, handsets. A handset licensee could imbue webOS phones with features reminiscent of a 4.3-inch display that HP has shied far from, but which was found in many successful smartphones.
Apple, RIM and Nokia clearly wouldn’t bite, and Sony Ericsson likely couldn’t afford to modify gears to a brand new OS, leaving HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung. HP has had a powerful relationship through the years with Samsung, which was rumored to be a potential webOS licensee . Samsung is rapidly en path to becoming the world’s highest-volume handset vendor. But additionally to licensing both Android and Windows Phone 7, it has its own smartphone OS. Like Samsung, HTC licenses both Android and Windows Phone 7, but tends to do what it may to pave over the operating system interface while capitalizing on available apps and extensive driver support, neither of that are provided bountifully by webOS. While a number of Sense’s widget-heavy UI might actually complement webOS’ widgetless desktop, it may even be a clumsy marriage.
Motorola have been focusing exclusively on Android now for many years, which have been paying off, but ultimately has no hedge in an increasingly crowded Android field. Moreover, its once vaunted software differentiator, Motoblur , have been vanishing. While Motorola was pushing into the clamshell notebook market with products just like the lapdock, it is a relatively pure handset play. Motorola also has strong carrier relationships and a brand name with a miles tighter association with wireless than HP.
That leaves LG. Once touted as Microsoft’s premiere hardware partner for Windows Phone 7, it was ignored within the cold when the parents in Redmond signed their blockbuster handle Nokia. LG have been behind Samsung in both the Android and burgeoning Windows Phone market, and is less of a threat within the laptop and printer market than Samsung. However, like Samsung, LG is a high-volume manufacturer of TVs, a complementary marketplace for HP, which only dabbled within the TV market years ago.
There is also potential in a carrier licensing webOS for its own branded handsets. While its debut did little to raise Sprint when it had the primary Pre as an exclusive, webOS continues to enhance. Sprint would still find exceptional value in a webOS exclusive because it grapples with not having the iPhone, and webOS’ friendly power may be a great fit for the prepaid market where Sprint is robust. Unfortunately for HP, the carrier that have been most aggressive about branding its own handsets under its name have been T-Mobile, which HP has not cracked with a webOS device, and that’s likely vanishing soon anyway.
Finally, if an operator is a candidate, why not a retailer? Amazon and Best Buy also are both potential licensees. Amazon, without a doubt , is a brief hop from entering the tablet market with the Kindle, and Best Buy have been aggressive in building out its Best Buy Mobile stores, and has experimented with Chumby-based information appliances under the Insignia brand it also uses for its lineup of probably webOS-enriched flat-panel TVs. Decisions, decisions….
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