That was fast and swift. All of a sudden, Palm which was previously rumored to be selling out has just been bought.  Guess who was the “lucky,” big time technology company who bought Palm? – yes the company named HP. The price? – $1.5 billion. Are we happy now?

Todd Bradley, a top HP executive said that Palm will provide HP with the innovative OS that will be ideal to HP’s mobile strategy.

“Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices,” said Todd Bradley.

Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and CEO for his part said he is looking forward to working with HP to continue delivering the best mobile experiences to Palm customers as well as business partners.

“We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein.

Mr. Rubenstein is to remain with the company when the merger takes place. And also under the TOR of the merger, all Palm stockholders will get $5.70 for each share of Palm common stock. The merger is set to take effect on July 31, 2010 – the closing of HP’s Q3 fiscal quarter.

Now, where would this bring Palm’s WebOS? Hopefully, into a greater good. Palm badly needs to shape up and gear up for a more competitive smartphone market. Can HP bring back Palm’s glory days in the smartphone market? That we are about to see.

Image source: Palm.com

Originally posted on April 28, 2010 @ 5:49 pm