IFA 2011 | Samsung shoots down webOS rumors
After HP announced that they would be discontinuing support for webOS, the rumor mill began looking for a possible licensee for the platform. One such rumor pertained to Korean giant Samsung, but that has now been shot down by company executives in attendance at this week’s IFA conference in Berlin.
According to Bloomberg News, Samsung CEO, Choi Gee Sung, responded to an inquiry about the possible acquisition by firmly denying any such move. The statement was later echoed by a company spokesman, as Mr. Choi said that Samsung would “never” pursue such a deal and that “It’s not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion”.
While the news may be disappointing for TouchPad and webOS enthusiasts, it makes sense on Samsung 's end, as they are heavily invested in Android and have their own proprietary Bada OS to worry about. In any case, if HP doesn’t manage to line up a partner, then the efforts of the extensive Android dev community may prolong the lifespan of their devices.