Mercury News reports that Apple has just purchased a 98-acre campus that HP used until this summer.  With this acquisition, Apple becomes the largest land owner in Curpertino.  HP consolidatred their operations back to Palo Alto, closer to their headquarters.

Apple currently occupies 57 buildings and is reportedly bursting at the seams.  The new campus, which housed HP desktop computer division as well as a high-tech briefing center for showing clients new products, will allow Apple to expand its staff for products such as iPad and the new iPhone for Verizon.

I find the timing of this news interesting as we witness the parallel decline in netbook sales, of which HP is a major player, while simultaneously being besiged by our client requests for iPad integration.