It could, but what do they have to sell? Nothing yet, right? So far from the press I've read, MS can't get updates out smoothly yet. I think Palm, and now HP, take a different approach than MS. After all, HP builds its own hardware and MS does licenses.
I think I'm showing my Australian bias here.. The Palm website: http://www.palm.com/au/ shows thatPalm are "introducing" WebOS on the "new" Palm Pre.
I can't see HP turning that around any time soon.
And I'm, of course, showing my American-centric view. Ha! It's frustrating how one company can be so different around the world. Few companies seem to be on the same page everywhere.