Hewlett-Packard says it will end its tablet computer and smartphone businesses, and it is considering selling its PC business.

HP has been rumored for six months to have been in talks to spin off or sell its PC business. But the smartphone and tablet announcement was surprising. HP paid $1.8 billion for smartphone maker Palm in 2009, mostly for the webOS software that powered the devices.

Hewlett-Packard Co., the biggest maker of PCs and printers, has been trying to transform itself to focus more on technology services, much as IBM Corp. did a decade ago. PCs are HP's biggest revenue generator, but it's the least profitable among the company's major divisions.

HP is based in Palo Alto, Calif.

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