Hewlett-Packard (HP) has sold its patent portfolio related to Palm, iPaq and the Bitfone device management platform to San Diego-based smartphone chip maker Qualcomm.
On Thursday, January 23, Qualcomm and HP released an official statement confirming the acquisition; however, the deal amount was not disclosed.
"The portfolio, comprising approximately 1,400 granted patents and pending patent applications from the US and approximately 1,000 granted patents and pending patent applications from other countries, covers technologies that include fundamental mobile operating system techniques. The acquisition further enhances the strength and diversity of Qualcomm Incorporated's industry-leading mobile patent portfolio," per a Qualcomm statement.
Palm made personal digital assistants (PDA) and HP acquired the company for over $1 billion in 2010. HP acquired Bitfone, a vendor of mobile device management software, in 2006 to build up the iPaq platform. Palm's acquisition was one of HP's biggest deals. HP wanted to benefit from the acquisition by using Palm's mobile operating system, webOS, in its tablets and smartphones. However, the webOS failed to attract many customers, which resulted in HP using Android in its mobile devices.
In February 2013, LG acquired the Linux-based webOS from HP in a bid to enhance its smart TVs.
Qualcomm has not elaborated how it plans to use the recently acquired Palm patent portfolio. However, the chip maker may have plans to expand its patent portfolios to help introduce new technology and protect itself from lawsuits.
In September 2013, Qualcomm revealed the Toq smartwatch, which is its first foray in the wearable gadget arena. The Toq was released in limited quantities in December 2013. The 1.55-inch Mirasol display Toq syncs with smartphones running on Android 4.0 or higher and allows users to scan texts, emails, phone calls and other notifications.
Qualcomm is well known in the mobile device industry for developing the Snapdragon processor, which is used in many smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy S4, Nexus 5, and the Nokia Lumia range of handsets. The Snapdragon processor is also found in a wide range of tablets and phablets.
With the emergence of smartphones, Qualcomm may not want to revive PDA; however, the chip maker may use the recently acquired patent portfolio related to Palm to make its very own smartphone or tablet in the future.
Qualcomm has also developed many of the technologies used in mobile devices and networks. The company also makes revenue from licensing intellectual property. The patent portfolio may enable Qualcomm to "offer even more value to current and future licensees."
