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HP smartphone comeback confirmed by company exec

HP has confirmed that it is plotting a comeback to the smartphone sector with an executive for the PC giant suggesting it wants to offer a “differentiated experience.”


Although failing to get into specifics, a senior director of HP has reportedly stated that a new smartphone offering is being plotted, stating “HP has to be in the game.”

Fielding question on whether HP would return to the smartphone scene, Yam Su Yin, the company’s Senior Director of Consumer PC and Media Tablets for the Asia Pacific markets stated: "The answer is yes but I cannot give a timetable. It would be silly if we say no. HP has to be in the game."

A former key player in the smartphone sector, HP splashed out a hefty $1.2 billion (£788m) on snapping up Palm back in early 2010. Sadly for the American company, its webOS software failed to keep track with the rise of iOS and Android subsequently seeing it drift into smartphone obscurity.

With the likes of Apple and, more specifically, Google having continued their meteoric rise through the ranks of the smartphone sector, a returning HP would face considerable trouble breaking back into a significant role on the smartphone front.

Responding to such concerns, Su Yin added:  "Being late you have to create a different set of proposition. There are still things that can be done. It’s not late. When HP has a smartphone, it will give a differentiated experience."

Reports early today revealed that Android now accounts for more than 70 per cent of all European smartphones sold during the three months to May 31.

While Google dominates on a software front, Samsung has become a key player on the hardware side of things and is now responsible for almost 50 per cent of all European smartphone sales. Although Samsung has stormed past formed leader Apple in Europe, latest figures have suggested things are less clear cut in the US.

“Across Europe, Android growth remains strong,” Paul Moore, Global Director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, said. “However, in the US Apple’s expanded distribution agreement with T-Mobile is helping the iPhone keep Android growth at bay.”

He added: “T-Mobile is the smallest of the big four US carriers but it does have the capacity to give iOS a boost, particularly as 28 per cent of its customers plan to buy an iPhone when they next upgrade.”