SAN FRANCISCO -- Palm wasn't big enough to compete with Apple, Google, Microsoft and others with its fledgling webOS operating system, former Chief Executive Jon Rubinstein said at Dive Into Mobile.
Rubinstein explained why the company sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.2 billion in April. He's now senior vice president of its Palm business unit developing mobile devices based on webOS.
"The world moved a little faster than we expected and we ran out of runway," he said. "That's where being acquired by HP is really positive. We bring that innovation and they bring the ability to scale."
As part of the integration, the Palm business group merged with more than 200 employees from emerging business group.
Rubinstein wouldn't say exactly when HP will release a new phone based on the software, but said phones and "radically new" tablets will be released in 2011.
Rubinstein predicted HP will be among the top three to five players in the smartphone market.
In response to a question from host Kara Swisher, he said it's still undecided whether the Palm name will continue to be used.
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