I would imagine HP / Palm will just do a cross-licensing and be done with it. HTC has a much more problematic position then HP/Palm, Nokia, Apple, Microsoft, and RIM. The suits between the big players are more extended negotiations.

CE companies business is not to sue others that might use their patents by default. Most companies still try to sell products. Companies build up patent portfolios as a defensive weapon mostly.

The best position to sue for patents is when you actually dont't sell products, that way nobody can sue you back for anything.

Patent fights between CE manufacturers will most likely get very ugly and apart from the bad publicity I fail to see what Apple has to gain here...