Don't get all excited, though, and jump to any crazy conclusions about HP resurrecting the TouchPad.
HP issued a statement today explaining the current outlook for TouchPad tablets. HP is making another batch of TouchPad tablets, but don't get all excited.The announcement has led many to speculate that perhaps HP is having second thoughts about killing the TouchPad, and that it might get back into the tablet business after all. But, the TouchPad is not coming back--at least not from HP. A report from DigiTimes Systems claims upstream suppliers are not happy about getting stuck with TouchPad component inventory. The story cites HP sources stating, "The suppliers are currently in negotiation with HP to find a solution for the component inventory, while HP Taiwan pointed out will maintain its promise to the partners."
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| HP is making another batch of TouchPad tablets, but don't get all excited |
It seems to me that the decision to produce one more round of TouchPad tablets is because HP knows there is demand for the tablet at the $99 fire sale price, and it just makes more sense than taking a loss on unused tablet components.
We can debate whether the death of the TouchPad was a homicide--a cold, calculated business decision to abandon the hardware business regardless of the success or failure of the tablet, or an assisted-suicide--a merciful end to a tablet that never really had a chance to compete against rival runner-ups, never mind going head to head with the Apple iPad. The HP TouchPad wasn't selling well in the first place.
HP says it will manufacture "one last run" of TouchPads, but it is not saying yet whether they will be sold at the deeply discounted price of $99 or closer to their original price of $499 for the 16 GB model.
"Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand," said Mark Budgell, HP's social media strategist, on a company blog Tuesday. Just Monday, Budgell said that HP, after receiving "an overwhelming number of requests to be notified if the TouchPad is again available for sale," turned "off" customers' online ability to be notified.
In an updated Q-and-A on the HP blog, Budgell said HP will make "a limited quantity" of the tablets "during our fourth fiscal quarter 2011, which ends October 31."
As far as the tablet's pricing, the answer was the same Tuesday as it Monday, to this question: "What about retailers? Some retailers won’t price match or drop their price to $99."
Each retailer will manage their own policy and process regarding pricing and price matching.
In an interview with Reuters, the head of HP’s PC business Todd Bradley gave the throngs of people who lined up outside stores to snap up discontinued and deeply discounted TouchPads hope that the company wouldn’t abandon them,saying the tablet could be resurrected. This, as the TouchPad was on track to become the second-best selling tablet of all time behind Apple’s iPad.
GigaOm’s Ryan Kim says HP’s revelation muddies the waters, making the biggest maker of PCs in the world seem indecisive, which hurts it’s stock price.
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Kafka suspects legal and licensing issues with big music labels and publishers are behind the move.
Google’s board of directors faced a lawsuit for previously allowing Canadian pharmacies to advertise prescription drugs to U.S. customers via the Web search leader. Last week, the Department of Justice said Google agreed to pay $500 million to settle the investigation into ads it accepted for online Canadian pharmacies selling drugs in the United States.
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Hewlett-Packard flip-flopped today, saying that it's going to produce more TouchPad tablets after all.
The company abruptly announced on Aug. 18 that it was killing the TouchPad product line after dismal early sales. Pricing wasn't disclosed.
Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand. HP said a "limited quantity" will be produced during the quarter ending Oct. 31.
It said HP was going to honor its commitments to its Taiwanese partners, who also manufacture its computers.
The DigiTimes story said the parts were for a 7-inch model of the TouchPad that wasn't released before HP scuttled the line.
The $99 HP TouchPad is coming back for an encore, according to the company’s PR manager Mark Budgell.
After HP killed the product line and sold off its leftover stock in a firesale, the TouchPad suddenly became a coveted item. “Tablet computing is a segment of the market that's relevant, absolutely," Personal Systems Group head Todd Bradley told Reuters.
For updates, users can follow Budgell (@MarkatHP) or his colleague Bryna Corcoran (@BrynaatHP) for the latest TouchPad news.
We can tell you that HP’s Small and Medium Business team has sold out of HP TouchPads and will not have more inventory.”
The future of the TouchPad, of course, is also dependent on the fate of the personal systems group which faces an uncertain future as HP looks to spin it off or sell it to another company. If HP does create a standalone PC business and revives its tablet, it should keep the lessons it learned from its firesale in mind. If HP can find a way to recreate those prices and still deliver a solid tablet, then it will thrive.
More TouchPads are on the way! Don't get all excited, though, and jump to any crazy conclusions about HP resurrecting the TouchPad.
HP issued a statement today explaining the current outlook for TouchPad tablets. A post on HP's TheNextBench blogexplains, "Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand."
.The announcement has led many to speculate that perhaps HP is having second thoughts about killing the TouchPad, and that it might get back into the tablet business after all. But, the TouchPad is not coming back--at least not from HP. The decision to crank out the last few tablets is probably much more pragmatic than that.
A report from DigiTimes Systems claims upstream suppliers are not happy about getting stuck with TouchPad component inventory. The story cites HP sources stating, "The suppliers are currently in negotiation with HP to find a solution for the component inventory, while HP Taiwan pointed out will maintain its promise to the partners."
I imagine some executive level meetings looking at numbers related to the TouchPad, and someone pointing out that the company is already on the hook for cases, touchscreen displays, and other components. It seems to me that the decision to produce one more round of TouchPad tablets is because HP knows there is demand for the tablet at the $99 fire sale price, and it just makes more sense than taking a loss on unused tablet components.
We can debate whether the death of the TouchPad was a homicide--a cold, calculated business decision to abandon the hardware business regardless of the success or failure of the tablet, or an assisted-suicide--a merciful end to a tablet that never really had a chance to compete against rival runner-ups, never mind going head to head with the Apple iPad. Regardless of that debate, though, the TouchPad is still dead.
HP trying to jump back into the tablet business would be like Ross Perot trying to jump back into the 1992 Presidential election. Once you surrender once, you lose whatever momentum you have, and entering the fray again is met with skepticism and ridicule.
The HP TouchPad wasn't selling well in the first place. It wasn't bad enough to warrant pulling the plug so abruptly and prematurely, but HP can't continue selling tablets at $99 indefinitely, and there is no reason to believe that the TouchPad will fare any better at $399 next month than it did last month.
That said, when the new batch of TouchPads hits the street, I will still do my best to get my hands on one. I have an iPad and an iPad 2, and I was never really interested in the TouchPad, but for $99 it is too good to pass up.
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