The market was created by Apple. That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a strong No. 2 player.Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman • Reversing course entirely on two of former CEO Leo Apotheker’s key decisions as CEO — the departure of the tablet market (and the ensuing lulz) and the spinning off of the PC market. As for the latter, Whitman claims it would’ve been far too expensive — it would’ve cost billions and would’ve proven extremely inefficient. “If you try to hive a division off, it’s really hard because you almost have to recreate the whole thing,” she said. Will this be enough? source (via • follow)
The speed at which it disappeared from inventory has been stunning. We have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand.A statement from Hewlett-Packard • Revealing that the company’s late-round success with the HP TouchPad was enough that they’re going to produce more of them and sell them at fire-sale prices. Which is hilarious, and tells us all that the decision to stop selling them was perhaps a little too rash. Good work, HP! source (via • follow)
Gizmodo dropped two bombs on the plebs today — first, the TouchPad will get software updates (and probably crawled its way up to the No. 2 spot in the tablet sales department) … and second, the TouchPad may possibly not be dead after all. See guys, all it took was a fire sale!
Via @ProducerMatthew: A friend of his, Tim Kerbavaz, successfully ordered a HP Touchpad on Barnes & Noble, only to later receive this message. Alas, it was not meant to be, he explains: “I was hoping, but inside I knew that it was too good to be true….” Also, CDW also reportedly canceled a separate order of his via phone. Oh, HP, you’ve really screwed up this mess.
And if you can’t get an HP TouchPad through Best Buy, HP themselves are still selling the $149 models.
From the Best Buy sale page:
HP TOUCHPAD CLEARANCE AND RETURN POLICY
Due to HP’s decision to discontinue its TouchPad product, Best Buy® will now provide clearance pricing for all TouchPad 16GB and 32GB models (SKUs 2842056, 2842092) regardless of previously advertised prices or promotions.
Best Buy will not accept customer returns or exchanges on clearance-priced TouchPads bought through any Best Buy channel.
Customers purchasing a TouchPad at clearance pricing will have a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty, fulfilled directly through HP, not Best Buy.
Customers who purchased the 16GB or 32GB TouchPad after June 19 may come into the store to get either a full refund or a refund of the difference between the price they paid and the clearance price.
Quantities are strictly limited. Limit 1 per customer. Best Buy cannot guarantee availability of inventory at this pricing at any particular Best Buy location or channel.
This is a change from yesterday, where we couldn’t even buy one.
idroolinmysleep said: This is strange. the TouchPad page on HP’s own website has the $99 and $149 prices with links to a bunch of shopping sites (including BB) right there. Maybe they only want to sell them online?
» SFB says: That’s my best guess. Best Buy in particular took a bit of a hit on the TouchPad — they have a couple hundred thousand in stock, reportedly. You’ll notice that the HP site shows them at $99, but it is in fact not selling them at this time. — Ernie @ SFB
HP TouchPad Report from Best Buy: “HP doesn’t even want us to sell them AT ALL.” The product display? Still up. However, a guy tried to buy one (it doesn’t seem like he was following the news) and was told he couldn’t. I asked the customer rep and he said they were going straight back to the manufacturer, and that the display, which also included the Pre and Pixi, was about to go down. So, there you go: Best Buy is no longer selling the HP TouchPad in the U.S. EDIT: Neither is Staples, and a second Best Buy location had already taken down their display.
A fascinating new discovery on the TouchPad: While Best Buy’s Canadian site is selling the TouchPad in-store, the U.S. site says they’ve simply stopped selling the devices altogether. We’re in an investigative mood today. There are two Best Buys within five miles of us. We’re going to Best Buy. We will take photos and report back.
Last week, it was a big deal that the HP Touchpad had its price cut to $399. Now they’re apparently being liquidated. $99 for a nearly-as-good clone of the iPad? Um, you might want to buy this. EDIT: Sold out. Dammit.
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
» Openly gunning for Apple’s market: The TouchPad, coming out on July 1, doesn’t just share the same cost as the iPad; it’s also the same size, and has many other striking similarities as well. However, what does set it apart is WebOS, which will also make its way to HP laptops eventually. It will be interesting to see how this feature-for-feature cage match pans out.
This is the new HP tablet: The HP “TouchPad” will run Web OS, a Palm operating system, and will be offered in 16GB and 32GB versions. HP is marketing “true multitasking” and the ability to run Flash in an effort to compete against Apple. The tablet sports a forward-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and Beats Audio high-fidelity speakers. Availability: Sometime this summer. Read more…
This is the first real competition to the iPad we’ve seen. Look at this thing. It’s awesome.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
