Hewlett-Packard posts higher 3Q earnings

FRANKFURT, GERMANY: Hewlett-Packard wants to see a jump in revenues from its software business, the company's chief executive told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

"I want to double or triple our current revenue in software from the current level of $5 billion," Chief Executive Meg Whitman said, without giving a timeline.

Whitman, who was appointed in September to replace Leo Apotheker, said the company had not made a decision on the future of its Palm webOS mobile software platform.

"It is complicated," she was quoted as saying when asked about the future of the unit. "We need a good decision, not a quick one."

Last month sources told Reuters Hewlett-Packard is looking to sell Palm's webOS mobile software platform. The deal could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars but less than the $1.2 billion that HP paid last year.

Former eBay CEO Whitman defended the $12 billion acquisition of British software firm Autonomy, which was closed in October.

The deal, which was the centerpiece of a botched strategy shift that cost ex-chief executive Apotheker his job, was "a good acquisition," Whitman told the paper, in an interview published on Thursday.

"Autonomy has potential and we can turn it into a fast-growing unit," she said.