HP's TouchPad Firesale Will Return After This Brief Restocking Period
posted Sunday Sep 4, 2011 by Nicholas DiMeo
It seems like it was just yesterday that HP went crazy and decided to kill off its $1.2 billion acquisition by starting a fire sale on the TouchPads just six weeks after launch, practically giving them away at $99 and $149. Regardless of the rhyme and reason for the decisions made, which we will discuss on our show, HP seems astonished that the move garnered such attention and caused a sellout in almost every store that carried the product.
To see what they've decided to do next, click the break.
Because of this massive movement of merchandise, HP has announced that they will be resurrecting the TouchPad for "one last time" to help fill the demand of the consumers.
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.
It's interesting to note how much money HP is losing by doing this discounted sale, as each individual 32GB TouchPad cost HP $318 to make. As far as availability, HP says,
We don't know exactly when these units will be available or how many we'll get, and we can't promise we'll have enough for everyone. We do know that it will be at least a few weeks before you can purchase.
HP hasn't said anything beyond that statement, however critics and fans alike have had a lot to say. It seems that both sides have joined to chant in unison the disdain for HP CEO Leo Apotheker's decision-making skills, especially after just promising consumers that webOS would be integrated into every HP device only a few short months ago.
The hatred towards this move to discontinue webOS products and possibly spin-off the computers and hardware divisions has caused HP shares to plummet to the lowest point since 1987, causing over a $16 billion drop in stock value. Hopefully this will make HP wake up and see that they now have devices in every consumer's hand, but I doubt it. My theory still holds that this was all a ruse to gain more marketshare and next week HP will post a new blog that simply reads, "Gotcha." A man can dream.
