In 2010, Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquired Palm, a pioneer in the mobile computing market known for its Palm Pilot personal digital assistant (PDA) and subsequent Palm smartphones. The acquisition was part of HP's strategy to expand its presence in the mobile device sector and compete with established players like Apple and Android-powered devices.

However, HP's foray into the smartphone market with the Palm brand proved to be challenging. Despite introducing several devices, such as the Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, and Palm Pre 2, HP struggled to gain significant traction and market share against the dominance of iOS and Android platforms.

In August 2011, HP announced its decision to discontinue the development of webOS, the operating system used in Palm devices, and refocus its efforts on tablet computers. This marked a significant shift in HP's mobile strategy, effectively ending the company's ambitions in the smartphone market.

Therefore, the answer to whether HP kept Palm in the smartphone market is: No, HP decided to discontinue the Palm brand and its involvement in the smartphone market in 2011.