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Hewlett-Packard boss Leo Apotheker said that the IT giant is open to licensing the WebOS operating system to other manufacturers.
Speaking at the D9 conference presented by tech blog All Things D, Apotheker said he believed "WebOS is a uniquely outstanding operating system" and that he did not believe the mobile OS "should only be on HP devices."
The HP chief said that the OS was suitable for third-parties that wanted to build Internet-connected hardware, adding that enterprises and SMBs would have access to the OS HP acquired from Palm.
Specifically asked about a smartphone manufacturer such as HTC, Apotheker said "it is certainly something we would entertain."
All Things D also quoted WebOS chief Jon Rubinstein from the Qualcomm Uplinq conference, running at the same time as Computex and D9, saying that HP was not considering an Android-style free for all but rather a "couple of select partners."
