Hewlett-Packard Co. will soon include its webOS system for smartphones on all its PCs, upcoming tablet computers and higher-end printers, putting it in competition with operating software from Apple, Google and Microsoft.
HP's intentions, laid out at a prominent technology conference Wednesday, represented a particular challenge to longtime partner Microsoft Corp., whose Windows operating system runs on all of the 65 million PCs that HP shipped last year.
CEO Leo Apotheker said the company should have put webOS further into the marketplace sooner. HP acquired webOS when it bought struggling cellphone maker Palm Inc. last year.
At first, webOS will sit on top of Windows in personal computers, Apotheker said. He said webOS could run on its own and that it will be licensed to other hardware makers over time. But he said Windows will continue to have a presence for years to come. "I don't believe that Windows will fade into irrelevance," he said.
Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, said the system would work equally well on tablets as PCs since mobile devices have gotten powerful enough to use a full computer operating system.
HP's interest in spreading webOS lies in making sure phones and PCs work well together like Apple's Macs and iPhones. HP also wants to make sure it has a foothold in the fast-changing mobile software market, a market that is being fought over fiercely as the computer industry adjusts to the mobile Internet frenzy.
Apotheker said HP aimed to make webOS the No. 3 mobile platform after Apple's iOS, which runs iPads and iPhones, and Google's Android. He said that many people would become attracted by webOS' unique ability to connect with Web-based services.
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