HP slashes iPad-competing TouchPad price to $399 1 month after release

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
Just over a month after the HP TouchPad hit the market, its price has been cut by one-fifth for a special weekend sale intended to boost sales of the iPad-competing tablet.



Starting Friday and through the weekend, HP is selling its TouchPad for $399.99 for the 16GB model, and $499.99 for the 32GB capacity. The prices, available through HP and at all major retailers, are with a $100 instant rebate.



The PC maker has not shed any light on sales of its tablet, but the discount, which undercuts Apple's iPad by $100, comes soon after the July 1 launch of the hardware, suggested it has gotten off to a slow start.



The weekend sale is being pushed in concert with a TV campaign advertising the limited-time price. And TouchPad is even cheaper at Amazon-owned deal-a-day site woot.com, where the tablet is being sold for $379.99 on Friday only.



When it debuted last month, the TouchPad was met with mediocre reviews that praised the device for its hardware design, but felt the webOS software powering it was lacking. While reviewers were impressed with the TouchPad's looks, they took issue with the tablet's weight, bugs and lack of applications.



Those reviews prompted former Palm Chief Executive and current HP executive Jon Rubinstein to send a letter to employees in which he suggested that media criticism of its webOS operating system on the TouchPad is similar to complaints reviewers had with early versions of Mac OS X. Those early reviews characterized Apple's software as "sluggish," without any "quality apps," and "just not making sense."



"It's hard to believe those statements described Mac OS X -- a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined," Rubinstein wrote, highlighting what he sees as the "potential for greatness" in webOS.







HP executives have qualified the TouchPad's position in the market, saying they don't expect the first-generation device to dethrone Apple's market-leading iPad. Last quarter, Apple sold a record 9.25 million iPads.



Competitors have scrambled to attempt to replicate the success Apple found on the market almost immediately with the iPad. But sales of devices like the RIM PlayBook and Samsung Galaxy Tab have failed to compete with the iPad, which was said in May by Nielsen to control 82 percent of the tablet market in the U.S.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 142
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,411member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The PC maker has not shed any light on sales of its tablet....



    Next step: shed tablet.
  • Reply 2 of 142
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Not good.
  • Reply 3 of 142
    curmudgeoncurmudgeon Posts: 483member
    HP is trying to buy some market share. Not a bad short-term strategy if you can afford it. Could help in the long run to get it into more peoples' hands today.



    They could even make a profit on it with sales of peripherals. Discount the TouchPad, but charge full list price for the charging station, etc.
  • Reply 4 of 142
    zindakozindako Posts: 468member
    These are the same people that criticize Apple as a niche company that has no clue about computing technology. Always closely coddling Microsoft as if they are some kind of all knowing god, welcome to the real HP. now keep trying to play catchup to Apple, which is 10 years ahead of you all. Because all of you chose to build your platforms on Microsoft technology while Mac os X was evolving and paving a new path.
  • Reply 5 of 142
    zindakozindako Posts: 468member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Curmudgeon View Post


    HP is trying to buy some market share. Not a bad short-term strategy if you can afford it. Could help in the long run to get it into more peoples' hands today.



    They could even make a profit on it with sales of peripherals. Discount the TouchPad, but charge full list price for the charging station, etc.



    HP is not a company with vision or long term plans, they are based on a get rich quick mentality, culture & business model, they have no hopes of success against Apple.
  • Reply 6 of 142
    mister snitchmister snitch Posts: 580member
    HP definitely has to compete with the iPad on price, just like the Kindle does. The question is, can HP actually sell a "full-fledged" iPad competitor (i.e., not a 'niche' tablet like the Kindle or Nook or some other e-reader) cheaper than an iPad AND make a profit? (Probably not.)
  • Reply 7 of 142
    jukesjukes Posts: 213member
    If they were serious about competing they should have started at these prices and taken the loss. Now it just looks weak.
  • Reply 8 of 142
    zindakozindako Posts: 468member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jukes View Post


    If they were serious about competing they should have started at these prices and taken the loss. Now it just looks weak.



    I agree with this response.
  • Reply 9 of 142
    maccherrymaccherry Posts: 924member
    At this time, I expect Jon Rubinstein to be wearing his parachute to the office every day.

    Cough! Cough!
  • Reply 10 of 142
    kazkamkazkam Posts: 60member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ...special weekend special...



    Wow! That's pretty special.



    Brought to you by the Office of the Department of Redundancy Department.
  • Reply 11 of 142
    bullet678bullet678 Posts: 4member
    ...but they work together on the joint venture of sellout.woot.com



    They were actually purchased by Amazon.
  • Reply 12 of 142
    rfrmacrfrmac Posts: 90member
    Not only is HP cutting price but it is increasing its' appearance on national TV by running new ads. I believe this is there big push to try to carve out a spot. So much for not going to compete with Apple in the consumer market and just be in the business market. What I hope is that people are smart enough to look at the total package.
  • Reply 12 of 142
    djmikeodjmikeo Posts: 180member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KazKam View Post


    Wow! That's pretty special.



    Brought to you by the Office of the Department of Redundancy Department.



    lol. That was kinda funny. kinda...
  • Reply 14 of 142
    eliangonzaleliangonzal Posts: 490member
    Well, I suppose all the bib-dribblers who claimed "if they drop the price to X, I'll take two!" can now make this the blockbuster hit they claimed it would be.



    Then again, I doubt it.
  • Reply 15 of 142
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    And TouchPad is even cheaper at Amazon-owned deal-a-day site woot.com, where the tablet is being sold for $379.99 on Friday only.



    ah, woot, where bad products go to get dumped. next up: the hp touchpad in a woot bag of crap.
  • Reply 16 of 142
    olliewalliewhiskersolliewalliewhiskers Posts: 434member
    for $399, i'd rather get a 64GB iPod touch.
  • Reply 17 of 142
    cloudgazercloudgazer Posts: 2,161member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mister Snitch View Post


    HP definitely has to compete with the iPad on price, just like the Kindle does. The question is, can HP actually sell a "full-fledged" iPad competitor (i.e., not a 'niche' tablet like the Kindle or Nook or some other e-reader) cheaper than an iPad AND make a profit? (Probably not.)



    The question is how much are they willing to lose to buy market-share. If they could buy 25% of the tablet market by selling the devices below cost that could end up being a smart move in the longer term. I doubt HP has that kind of commitment though.
  • Reply 18 of 142
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    At these prices I'm buying 3 each for my Wife, my dog and I.
  • Reply 19 of 142
    corbettaacorbettaa Posts: 3member
    HP well what can I say. There are so many things wrong with your company that I don't know where to start. It's a shame actually. You are such an iconic company of Palo Alto. First of all, I've had 5 HP Officejet printers the last one cost me over $450. I will be purchasing Canon printers or at least trying them out from this point forward. Can't even sync to your crappy Elitebook. Disgraceful. Ok now on to the Touchpad. I thought margins were really tight with electronics such as pads, tablets and laptops. I guess I'm wrong. How can you sell a product for $100 less after the first month?? Do you really think that if someone is going to spend $400 on a piece of electronics that sucks they wouldn't rather spend an extra $100 for the item they really want?? These days $100 doesn't go as far as it used to. Teenagers piss $100 like it's nothing. People who buy these types of niche electronics are typically saavy or at least smart enough to know better. I can't wait to see your next quarterly numbers statements b/c that's when they have to declare all their sales figures etc. Mind you they will probably cook the books somehow to downplay what a disappointment the Touchpad was. If I wasn't going to buy an iPad2 I sure as hell wouldn't buy a Touchpad/Playbook/Xoom I would probably buy a Samsung or Toshiba. Just listen to all the genius people that review these products they can barely cough up a "meh" for these pathetic attempts. And it wouldn't matter if it was $100 cheaper. If it doesn't work smoothly who wants to deal with all of the frustration. The writing is on the wall. Nobody discounts their hottest newest product a month after it's launched if sales are robust. Therefore, we can conclude that sales of the Touchpad are totally puuuuuuuuuuuuthetic. But that's what happens when you try to sell junk to intelligent people. I hate big companies that pump out expensive garbage that doesn't function properly. I hope your stock plummets just like RIMM did. Nuff said.
  • Reply 20 of 142
    nprtmn4evrnprtmn4evr Posts: 35member
    My mom works for HP and bought one shortly after it launched (apparently HP was "encouraging" its employees to buy one). She doesn't need a ton of apps, and she seems to like it. I played with it for a little bit and I like the multitasking of webOS better than my iPad, but overall the iPad is still the superior product. HP needed to drop their price in order to compete, because if you're gonna spend $499 for a tablet, why would you get anything other than an iPad?
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