HP Soothes webOS Lovers Woes & Commits To webOS Smartphones After All

Earlier, we reported that HP's CEO Mark Hurd indicated the company's purchase of Palm and its assets wasn't about cell phones. From the initial comments, it appeared that HP may be planning to ignore the phone market altogether and instead use the webOS platform for other devices such as tablet PCs and printers.

For all of you who were worried there would be one less smartphone platform on the market, you can breathe a sigh of relief. HP released the following statement regarding their plans for webOS:

When we look at the market, we see an array of interconnected devices, including tablets, printers, and of course, smartphones. We believe webOS can become the backbone for many of HP's small form factor devices, and we expect to expand webOS's footprint beyond just the smartphone market, all while leveraging our financial strength, scale, and global reach to grow in smartphones.

We're all for competition in the market, especially when it comes to an amazing mobile OS that in our mind still has a lot of potential; we're glad to hear HP still plans to utilize the webOS platform with smartphones. Although the Palm Pre and Pixi have failed to impress in terms of sales, both devices have been met with pretty good reception—the failure of the devices seems to be tied to poor advertisements and bad marketing. With HP behind the platform, perhaps the company can finally give these phones and the entire webOS platform the attention they deserve.