New Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Léo Apotheker yesterday set out his future strategy for the company, with cloud computing and the webOS platform (acquired from Palm last year) key to its plans. At the HP Summit 2011 in San Francisco, Apotheker made it clear that the PC giant intends to become a major player in the mobile space, stating: “We just announced our new devices, the TouchPad and the [Pre] smartphones… Going forward, we don’t intend to play in the [minor] league in this business.”

In a statement, HP noted that “the cloud is combining with mobility to create ubiquitous connectivity,” adding that it will develop a portfolio of cloud services from infrastructure to platform services. HP plans to develop and run “the industry’s first open cloud marketplace that will combine a secure, scalable and trusted consumer app store and an enterprise application and services catalogue.”

Meanwhile it announced ambitions to build webOS into a “leading connectivity platform.” The statement noted: “HP already has a globally distributed installed base in both the consumer and enterprise, and ships two printers and PCs a second, which will be webOS enabled – this huge, growing installed base of devices provides enormous opportunity upon which to build HP-, customer- and ecosystem-driven innovation.” Specifically, HP said it has the potential to deliver 100 million webOS-enabled devices a year, adding that it will “build a robust developer community that is eager to access every segment of the market and every corner of the globe.”

HP faces an uphill battle to become a leading player in the mobile market, but its ambitions to expand its webOS platform confirm earlier reports of it wanting to take the OS beyond smartphones and tablets into PCs and printers. So far, webOS has gained little support from developers due to its limited penetration – it has to date only been used in a handful of Palm-branded smartphones. However, by extending support across HP’s entire product range there will be a much larger addressable user base, which should make it more appealing. Confirming previous rumours, HP said the TouchPad tablet will come out this June. Interestingly, HP plans to continue producing tablet devices that run Microsoft’s Windows operating system alongside its own. On laptops and desktops, Apotheker said webOS would work alongside Windows, allowing computers to interact with HP’s smartphones and tablets.

HP also yesterday unveiled plans to increase dividends. This includes a 50 percent increase in the quarterly dividend to US$0.12 per share, and plans for double-digit increases in annual dividends. In after-hours trading Monday following the event, HP’s stock was relatively flat after edging down to US$41.49 at 4pm.