HP CEO Meg Whitman has revealed the company plans to build new WebOS tablets, following the decision to take the software open source.
After Friday's surprise announcement, Whitman told The Verge that once the new structure becomes clear, HP could launch a follow-up to the ill-fated TouchPad tablet.
When asked whether HP will continue building WebOS hardware, she said: "The answer to that is yes but what I can't tell you is whether that will be in 2012 or not."
"But we will use webOS in new hardware, but it's just going to take us a little longer to reorganize the team in a quite different direction than we've been taking it in the past."
No more smartphones
When asked to elaborate on the kinds of gadgets HP will look to build, Whitman said the company was likely to be done with smartphones, but tablets are definitely on the table.
"In the near term what I would imagine - and this could change, in full disclosure - is I would think tablets, I do not believe we will be in the smartphone business again."
HP's decision to not only keep WebOS, but continue building gadgets around it represents a stunning show of faith considering the disastrous TouchPad launch earlier in this year.
Whitman admitted that the company had spent much of the second half of 2011 considering whether to sell the portfolio, but said keeping and renewing WebOS was best for the industry.
She added: "We looked at a whole bunch of opportunities, right after the mid-August announcement and the team here said 'what were the alternatives?' Wind down? Sell the portfolio? Run it like we did before, but better?
"As we looked at all the alternatives, this seemed to be the one that made the most sense for the industry, for the community, for the developer community."
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