HTC drops its bid for Palm as Lenovo emerges as front-runner

By on Apr 23, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Rumor April 23, 2010

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According to a report from Reuters, HTC has dropped the idea of acquiring Palm after a close examining the ailing company’s books. Reuters quoted an unnamed source in Taiwan who was involved in the dead deal as saying “there just weren’t enough synergies to take the deal forward.” This means HTC has joined a growing list of companies that have decided against making a bid for Palm including Dell and Huawei. The CEO of Huawei-rival ZTE informed Reuters his company has not made a move. At present it seems Lenovo, which had over $2.4 billion in cash reserves at the end of 2009, is the new front-runner having said to be entertaining the idea of making an offer to the tune of $1.3 billion dollar, or 30% above Palm’s market cap. Shares in Lenovo rose in Asia on the news.

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14 Comments

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  • Gauntlet Down

    Lenovo, being the only remaining “rumored” candidate, necessarily is the front-runner.

  • FrankieFlo

    This is great news for android….has anyone seen lenovos LePhone….very appealing

  • Nokia N900

    They should have sold out to Nokia when they had the chance. Lenovo has no slice of the pie in the smart phone / dumb phone market.

  • Austin

    On a related note HP should really buy HTC unless of course it really wants to own an Mobile OS and therefore, it could buy Palm. But I just don’t think it wants to go head to head with MS, Google, Blackberry, Apple, Nokia, and now Samsung in this Mobile OS space. Why not pick up HTC with great industrial hardware design for the mobile business and get SENSE UI (since it already skins Windows Vista and 7 for Touchsmart) for Android or if Windows 6 (is sticking around). Then they could push Windows 7 for Enterprise and Android for Consumer. How about that?

  • (The real Jarrett) Jarrett

    HTC really didn’t have a choice. The cost of litigation and/or restitution for patent infringement (allegedly, until proven to be true or not true.) was the actuall deal breaker. You should never spend money you don’t actually have. Or more appropriate, you should never spend money you that wasn’t “legally” earned. Granted Microsoft has been spending another company’s money for twenty or so years now.

    • Nokia N900

      Are you trying to say Apple is in the process of suing Palm?

      • ChocoTaco

        Yes. He’s also insinuating that Microsoft has been stealing Apple’s money for 25 years. It had nothing to do with Bill Gates’ realization that money is in software and Steve Jobs’ terrible idea that money was in hardware. It couldn’t possibly be because of Steve Jobs’ mistakes and Gates’ genius.

        Gates is probably the most charitable guy in the world and is truly a generous and good man IMO. What has Steve Jobs ever given back aside from totalitarianism?

      • (The real Jarrett) Jarrett

        @ Nokia N900,

        No on the Palm side. HTC is actually being sued by Apple. So HTC shouldn’t be spending money it may not actually have.

        @ ChocoTaco,

        Before I answer just let me say that anyone who would deny Bill Gates is truly amazing for his charitble work is even more ignorant than the worst of the Apple haters.

        You would be incorrect. I have always stated Bill Gates genius was putting Windows on every computer possible. Steve’s idea still holds merit (hence the $41.7 billion in cash Apple has) Microsoft wouldn’t be able to get away with what they got away with then. Before you start with the Xerox speech Apple paid Xerox well over $100 million in compensation after the fact (without the need of a lawsuit.)
        Bill Gates genius was a weak legal agreement (Apple’s own fault). The problem with you and others like you is that you feel free to assume what others think. Microsoft is a software company, that is all they have ever been and it is the only thing they have ever made money with. The problem is they have never (and I mean never because Natal isn’t a product yet) had a shipping product that was theirs and theirs alone. Everything they have made money because of someone else’s doing.
        So yes, Bill Gates is still the biggest business genius ever and had Ross Perot bought Microsoft in 1986 for $300 million (When they offered to him) he would be the biggest business genius ever. On that note, can I still hold Bill Gates to genius status when he was about to sell the golden egg layer? I mean, wouldn’t a genius be a visionary and see the future of his company having a market cap of over $500 billion in 2001? Then again maybe his genius was seeing in cut in half by 2010? Either or I suppose.
        Apple’s vertical integration is proving to be dominate. Why else do you think microsoft is following the same path with XBOX, ZUNE and WP7? Learn to learn and you would be amazed by how appreciative your mind will be. Of course, the world needs people who just “Love not to know shit”.

        Cheers

  • Mike

    NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

    “Like A Thousand Voices Screaming Out At Once In Agony”

  • Darnell

    Good to know HTC did not take Palm. I like HTC catering to both the Windows Mobile and Android crowd. I dont’ want HTC to devote effort to an in-house OS. Even if they tried to do devices of 3 Mobile OS, it would have taken away from the 2 they already make great devices for.

  • boogalooboy

    Thank goodness webOS has escaped HTC’s shoddy graphic drivers.

  • bob

    Thank goodness HTC wasn’t dumb enough to buy Palm…

    • bob

      just let the poor dog die

  • David

    The noose tightens.

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