It appears HP is leaning towards selling off the webOS unit, instead of keeping it in-house or open sourcing the platform. From Reuters:

Hewlett-Packard Co is evaluating a potential sale of its webOS software platform in a deal that could fetch hundreds of millions of dollars but likely less than the $1.2 billion the company paid for Palm Inc in 2010, said four sources close to the matter.

The article asserts that multiple companies have shown interest in purchasing webOS, with the aim of gaining patents rather than continuing to extend the platform.