HP Rumored To Dive Into Smartphone And Tablet Market Again

HP CEO Meg Whitman has already said that the company plans to release their own smartphone at some point, but details were pretty scarce. We even spotted a possible HP smartphone in some benchmark details that same day. So, it's not too surprising that the company is reported to have said that they plan on getting back into the smartphone and tablet business.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said that he thinks HP will "aggressively attack" the smartphone and tablet markets in a research note to investors yesterday. Misek noted that it would be a risky investment for HP, though, which isn't too surprising since the company only has a brief history of maintaining a smartphone and tablet lineup, thanks to their acquisition of Palm.

Misek noted that "to date almost all PC OEMs have failed to gain significant traction in consumer tablets/smartphones," with exception to a few obvious companies of course. Then again, HP will most likely have to make a move like this at some point. With the world slowly moving toward a post-PC era, HP will eventually have to hop on the train and get going.

Whitman even said herself that the company will need to offer a smartphone and tablet, which can only point to signs that we'll definitely see more mobile products from HP soon. And it'll be interesting to see what the company comes with. Will they model their new devices after their previous webOS-based models, or will they completely start from the ground up?

[via ZDNet]