A new report filed by Reuters this morning has confirmed that Oracle is one of the companies interested in a possible purchase of the webOS platform from HP after the computer conglomerate made the decision to kill webOS hardware earlier this Summer and initially planned to sell the platform along with its profitable computer hardware division, a move from which it’s still attempting to recover from in terms of customer perception.
The sale and spinoff plans were then changed to a wait and see approach after the webOS hardware fire sale at clearance prices rekindled interest in the platform and was enough to convince shareholders that an outright sale would have been too hasty a move, which prompted the board of directors to fire former CEO Leo Apotheker in September and subsequently bring in former ebay CEO Meg Whitman in an attempt to restore sanity to the chaotic situation that unfolded after Apotheker’s departure.
A final decision on whether to sell or keep webOS will come shortly before the end of the year based on previous statements from Whitman during the most recent earnings call. Â Whitman also confirmed that HP would revive tablet hardware with a focus on launching Windows 8 during the same call with a target release planned for next year. HP have also completely exhausted supplies of TouchPad hardware after the abrupt cancellation led to a parts overload with contracted suppliers, which were sold last month in one last sales run to select retailers, third-party sites and employees.
