New HP TouchPad shipment will maintain $99, $149 pricing

punchjump dot com ^ | 9-3-11 | Marcus Lai

[bigbob]

HP Inc. will maintain the clearance pricing of the next batch of TouchPad tablet devices according to a new report.

The New York Times this week said HP the limited supply of TouchPad will be available by the end of Oct. at $99 for the 16GB SKU and $149 for the 32GB SKU.

The Palo Alto, CA-based company said this week it will manufacture a limited quantity of TouchPad tablets in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2011, which ends Oct. 31, to meet demand.

HP previously said it would end the manufacture of webOS devices in the fourth quarter.

In addition, HP told CNET this week that current TouchPad owners will receive a new software update that will add new functionality to the hardware.

Customers who signed up for an email request notification via HP.com will be updated when availability specifics are available.

HP is considering a spinoff of the Personal Systems Group, which has held as the No. 1 PC business against low net profits.

HP Aug. 19 price cut the TouchPad 16GB SKU to $99.99 from $499.99 and the 32GB SKU to $149.99 from $599.99.

The discount prompted strong consumer demand at nationwide retailers, including Best Buy Co. Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., all of which have sold out of the device.

HP released the TouchPad tablet series in July in a Wi-Fi 16GB SKU and 32GB SKUs to compete against Apple Inc.’s iPad which has dominated the tablet market since launch in 2010.

Both include a 1.2Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual-Core CPU, 1GB RAM, and the webOS operating system in a 1.6 lb. device.

Despite powerful specs, the TouchPad held tepid demand at launch.

Current competitors in the tablet space include Acer Inc.’s Iconia and Transformer SKUs, Samsung Group’s Galaxy Tab, and Motorola Mobility Inc.’s XOOM

[bigbob]

So if you want to buy a $99 Touchpad, you'll get one more chance.

There must be some Obamanomics in this - - create something that there's no demand for, lose money on every one, and then double-down on it.

[cc2k]

Wow, that's going to be tempting. I might get one.

I hear there's an android port for it, too. $99 or $149 for an android tablet isn't bad at all.

[TaxPayer2000]

Ok, So where do I order one?

[Rashputin]

I want one and can't find anywhere to order one for under #250 or so. Where are these going to be? The local Wally World stores never lowered the prices, they just took them all out of stock and shipped them somewhere.

[montag813]

I got one 2 weeks ago, and want 4 more for my kids. By far the best interface I have ever used. Incredible multitasking. I also have an iPad, but have mostly ignored it since I got the TouchPad. HP are idiots to not aggressively price it to begin with to firmly establish a webOS ecosystem. That may happen now, but HP’s management of ex-Oracle software junkies seem to want nothing to do with hardware, and want someone to buy Palm off their hands. Stupid. webOS is an amazing gem. The Facebook and Wordpress apps are simply amazing (can’t even edit Wordpress using iPad2, which also doesn’t support Flash).

[Sarah Barracuda]

These darn touchpads have been impossible and I mean IMPOSSIBLE to find in California. Sold out EVERYWHERE. I tried ordering from amazon.com(From OnSale) order cancelled, tried ordering from TigerDirect when it was available, 25,000 touchpads were gone in a minute and a half..yeah that fast! I signed up for HP’s notification alert when the touchpad is available, it will be 1 per customer(People were buying 15 at a time and selling them on Ebay for crazy prices) so hopefully this time around everyone who wants one can get one

[goodnesswins]

WOW....THAT is some PRICE CUT!

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

I bought one off eBay, just got it Monday. Wish I had a cyrstal ball :(

[Dr. Sivana]

This is the biggest dead cat bounce I’ve seen since the TI-99/4a home computer.

Yes, I am on the e-mail list. The price is too good to pass up.

[Sarah Barracuda]

How much did you pay for it and what version did you get(16 or 32gb) I was going to get it off of Ebay, but was #1..concerned about it being the real deal and #2..saw the outrageous prices they were going for..didn’t think it was worth spending so much over the retail value for something Ive never actually seen. So tell me, what do you think of it..is it living up to the hype..how is the email program on it, speed, etc?

[Sarah Barracuda]

Im concerned that when HP does release it, it might be in the middle of the night or some weird time that by the time I get online I would have missed out on it. I hope they end up letting every person who signed up on their email list to get one

[dayglored]

> There must be some Obamanomics in this - - create something that there's no demand for, lose money on every one, and then double-down on it.

You got THAT right. There's $300 worth of components in it alone. HP loses $200 outright on every one.

To manufacture more, knowing you're losing at least $200 on each one, is a bonehead move that should have the HP stockholders calling for CEO's head with torches and pitchforks!!

I don't care how "great" they are at $99.... it's not a "loss leader" if there's nothing to follow it up!

I sincerely hope this report is false.

[ThomasThomas]

I would guess the sub-assemblies were already made and in the pipeline for manufacture. Completing them might be more cost affective that paying to depose of the parts.

[gunsequalfreedom]

I have an Ipad and the thing is really, really bad, especially for web browsing. Most websites also don’t work with it. Some I need for work so I have to resort to my android phone to get the information I need from the website. I really don’t like the Ipad. Very sorry I bought it.

I must say it has held up well when I get mad at it an punch the screen. It really takes a beating.

[Sarah Barracuda]

For anyone living in New Jersey..on Monday the 6ave stores in
Bergen County Middlesex County
Paramus
530 Route 17 North
Paramus, N.J. 07652
Phone: 201-597-0520

Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10:00am - 9:30pm
Sat: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sun: Closed
Map & Directions . Woodbridge
950 Route 1 North
Woodbridge, N.J. 07095
Phone: 732-602-1117

Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10:00am - 9:30pm
Sat: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sun: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Map & Directions

Union County
Springfield
22 Route 22 West
Springfield, N.J. 07081
Phone: 973-467-3905

Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10:00am - 9:30pm
Sat: 9:00am - 9:00pm
Sun: 10:00am - 7:00pm
Map & Directions

Will be having touchpads(The 32gb one for 149) available in their stores opening at 7am
http://www.6ave.com/shop/usertpl.aspx?fle=weekly_ad.htm&utm_source=AFF&utm_medium=CPA&utm_campaign=GAN

So if anyone is able to go there and get one here is your chance..and if you can get an extra one I’ll buy it from ya

[dayglored]

> I would guess the sub-assemblies were already made and in the pipeline for manufacture. Completing them might be more cost affective that paying to depose of the parts.

Okay, if that's the case, and there's a decent economic argument in favor of completing the build vs. trashing it midstream, then I suppose it's a valid way to do it.

Still, the way they're promoting it seems insane, given that there's no way to follow up on it. :)

[AnotherUnixGeek]

HP sure seems to have found the magic price point - they probably can't make a profit on the devices at that price, but smart companies like Amazon will eat the loss in order to tie customers into their app stores and ecosystems. Apple can afford to charge what it does because Jobs managed to give Apple products a cachet that has nothing to do with price/performance considerations. People buy Apple products with the same mindset they use to buy shoes and purses - and now that Jobs is gone, that may change.

Too bad it took HP getting out of the business to reveal what HP needed to succeed in the business.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

I got the 32gb for $225.00, I think it was a good buy for the 32gb. I like it so far, but I had a very busy week at work (65 hours) so didn't have much of a chance to play around with it.
One thing I don't like about it, and I think it's the same for all tablets, is that you can't plug in flash drives. That would be a cool feature and was something I was unaware of.
I'll let you know in a few days what I think :)

[Sarah Barracuda]

U should do those little tweaks that you can do on it to make it go faster..like overclocking and there are preware that you can install that will remove those annoying little programs from opening up that make the touchpad go faster. Some have said once you do this it goes faster then the iPad..225 for the 32gb is a good value, does that include shipping? That is a good value considering how much sales tax is in certain states..225 was that a buy it now or did you win the bidding war on it? I’ve never seen the touchpad, when I Heard about the fire sale(being an iPad 2 owner) I really didn’t care at all about it, but ya know how it is, everyone goes nuts for something and u just have to have it..well that is what happened to me, now I regret not going for it so I have to wait