Hewlett-Packard (HP) has reportedly been collaborating with Taiwan-based supply chain makers to develop smartphones which will be launched in the second half of 2013 at the earliest, according to some of the makers.

This will be the second time HP tries to enter into the handset industry. In 2010, HP spent US$1.2 billion to acquire handset vendor Palm and released two webOS-based smartphones in 2011; however, because of poor sales, the company later in 2011 announced it would abandon related development. HP sold webOS to Korea-based LG in February 2013.

HP's plans to return to the smartphone industry were first revealed when HP CEO Meg Whitman said that the company is planning to release new smartphones in an interview with Fox Business Network in September 2012. Although rumors that HP was looking to acquire RIM had also been circulating in the IT market at the time, the acquisition never happened.

In a recent interview, senior director of the Asia Pacific division of HP's Personal Systems Group, Yam Su Yin, confirmed the company's plans to return to the smartphone market, but gave no timetable.

Market watchers have commented that entering the smartphone industry is a must for HP, since the handheld industry is seeing stronger growth than the PC industry.

Global smartphone shipments reached 238 million units in second-quarter 2013, accounting for 55.1% of total handset shipments, up significantly from 156 million in the same quarter a year ago, noted the sources citing figures from research firms.

Since Samsung and Apple together account for 50% of global smartphone shipments, achieving good performance in the smartphone industry will be a great challenge for HP.

By: DocMemory
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