The Journal cited unnamed sources in its report. Satjiv Chahil, a vice president in HP's PC division, declined to comment on whether the world's largest PC maker will sell either netbooks or smartphones running Android, but confirmed that HP is "studying" the free operating system.

HP did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Asustek Computer Inc., meanwhile, has said it Meanwhile, computer maker whether to build an Android-based smartphone.

A crucial question the Journal article did not answer is whether HP is testing Android on netbooks based on Intel Corp.'s Atom processor or the ARM processor dominant in smartphones.

Atom is a low-wattage, low-priced CPU from Intel that is whether they run Windows XP or some version of Linux.