When Hewlett-Packard purchased Compaq in 2002, they began selling iPaq mobile devices targeted and marketed exclusively to the business segment. According the Wall Street Journal, HP is set to release a consumer based mobile phone with Windows Mobile 6.1 that will be available at the retail level.

The news is exciting as there is no such thing as too many phones to choose from, but computer manufacturers haven’t had an easy time breaking into the mobile phone business. If you remember, Dell tried to penetrate the mobile world but failed miserably. Rumor has it that Dell will try again in the next year or two and we’ve confirmed reports that Acer will be launching a phone in 1st Quarter 2009.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the HP phone will launch across Europe in the next two months (Read: in 2008) and will spread to other areas of the world in the first months of 2009.

It will be interesting to see if HP, Dell, Acer and other  manufacturers can make the transition into the mobile realm. There is certainly loads of money in the market, but with so many proven competitors churning out blockbusters month after month, will they be able to compare?

[Via WSJ]