Hewlett-Packard Co is looking to sell Palm's webOS mobile software platform, a deal that could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars but less than the $1.2 billion that HP paid last year, four sources close to the matter said.

Advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HP is trying to figure out how to recoup its investment in Palm, viewed by many analysts and investors as an expensive foray into the smartphone market that has not paid off.

Several technology companies have expressed an interest in buying the division, which is seen as attractive for its patents, the sources said.

Amazon.com Inc, Research In Motion, IBM, Oracle Corp and Intel Corp are considered to be among the companies likely to be interested in the asset, industry sources said.

U.S. Non-iPad Tablet Market Led by TouchPad Fire Sales as iPad's Domination Continues
Nov 22, 2011 10:50 am PST by Eric Slivka
Research firm NPD today released a new study of non-iPad tablet sales in the United States, revealing that sell-through remains extremely small in the face of Apple's dominant market share. According to the report, only 1.2 million non-iPad tablets were sold in the United States during the first ten months of 2011, with HP leading the pack with 17% of that market, or about 200,000 units sold.


HP famously discontinued its TouchPad tablet just weeks after it launched, although the company has been periodically offering stocks of the device at bargain basement prices as low as $99 or as part of bundles with HP computers.
PC manufacturers are dominant in the tablet space, as four of the top five tablet brands already have a strong U.S. consumer PC presence. Only two of the top five brands play in the smartphone market.

“The market is filled with long-time PC and phone brands as well as low-cost entrants,” stated Baker. “With a limited amount of shelf space and challenges in overcoming the iPads first mover strength, not all brands will be successful.”

Apple's sales performance is not included in the study, but it is clear that the total of 1.2 million non-iPad tablets fails to come close to Apple's sales numbers. For the first three quarters of 2011, Apple reported total iPad sales of just over 25 million iPads on a worldwide basis, and while the company does not break out its U.S. iPad sales, that number is almost certainly well above 10 million units, putting Apple in the neighborhood of 90% sales share.

Recent studies have pegged Apple's share of iPad shipments at closer to 65-70%, but those studies measure shipments from manufacturers to distribution channels and not sales to end users. While Apple has repeatedly noted that it is selling every iPad it can make, competitors' devices still appear to be languishing on store shelves amid low interest from consumers.