Thaindian News

By Ranjan Bhaduri
Apr 29, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Hewlett Packard the computer hardware giant has acquired struggling Smartphone maker Palm Inc in a $1.2 billion deal recently. The merger will give HP a chance to consolidate its position in the fast emerging Smartphone segment. However, HP the largest technology company of the world in terms of revenue has held its position in computer and PC accessories market. However, in Smartphone market it is yet to get a firm foothold. HP is counting on the webOS of Palm Inc to develop cutting edge Smartphone. Rival Acer has already made considerable progress in smart phones and HP cannot risk losing the market share in this profitable segment. Apart from Acer, other leading PC manufacturers like Dell, Asus and Lenovo are also eyeing a pie of the Smartphone segment.

The Palm acquisition will give HP the benefit of a robust OS and applications that will give an edge over rivals who still rely on Smartphone OSes developed by Google and Microsoft. It may also give HP a chance to grab a share of the market hitherto dominated by Apple. In this year the global Smartphone market is expected to rise by a margin of 35 percent. The deal comes as a breather for Palm which despite being known as a maker of great quality handheld devices has lost a huge part of market to rivals like Apple and RIM.

In recent times the Palm models like the Pre and Pixi have failed to counter the popularity of iPhone and android phones in spite of getting good reviews. HP plans to retain a number of top Palm executives.