High-Tech Computer (HTC), one of the largest makers of smartphones on the planet, said that the company may acquire a mobile operating system, but only after careful consideration. The company clearly can differentiate itself with Google Android or Windows Phone platforms, but an own OS would allow it to address yet untapped markets.

"We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse. We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS," said Cher Wang, the chairwoman of HTC, in an interview with the Economic Observer news-paper, reports Focus Taiwan.

While "HTC Sense" user interface allows HTC to differentiate itself from other vendors of Android or Windows Phone devices, it only lets HTC to better compete against others, while retaining HTC's full dependence on third party OS providers. Moreover, operating systems from other companies do not allow HTC to be competitive in the fields where Android or WP are not. As a result, its own operating system will not only reduce HTC's dependence on Google and Microsoft, but will make it more competitive against Apple's iOS, Samsung's Bada and other platforms as a company.

HP said back in August that it would like to spin off or sell its personal systems group (PSG) and also discontinued its mobile devices powered by Palm's webOS operating system (OS). The company began to explore options for its Palm business unit as well as webOS software by then, which spurred discussions about possible acquisition of the former and the latter by others. Samsung Electronics denied existence of such plan, but HTC appears to be interested.

Tags: HTC, webOS, Palm, HP, Android, Windows Phone