Unless Google’s partners are completely stupid, they spent most of the day figuring out which mobile operating system they will use next.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]The problem that Samsung, LG and HTC have is that there isn’t a good option available. But maybe there is — HP’s webOS.

HP acquired webOS when it bought Palm, and by all accounts, it’s a very good operating system. In fact, HP has made no secret that it plans to use webOS in computers, printers and handheld devices.

It doesn’t appear that HP’s TouchPad is flying off the shelves, so there seems to be no reason the company wouldn’t shop its mobile OS around to interested manufacturers for a licensing deal.

The fact is, if HP were to license the OS, it would strengthen its position in the market, but it would also weaken Google’s position. Apple would probably come out of such a scenario on top, but this could be the first step for HP to build a significant amount of market share.