HP Drops Price on TouchPad by $100 to Compete With iPad [Report]

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HP has announced that it will keep the HP TouchPad permanently discounted $100 from the original retail price of $500. Following last’s weekend sale of the TouchPad at the reduced price point, HP has said that it is “pleased with customer response” to the price drop, and that the TouchPad’s price will be permanently cut to $400.

TouchPad sales have been unnoticeable at best, and this price cut can be seen as a clear move for HP to stay relevant in light of the iPad’s dominance.

HP needs to sell more TouchPads. Larger sales numbers encourage developers to develop for the tablet’s webOS platform, and a vibrant, third-party development community is what HP desperately needs right now for the TouchPad to have any traction at all in what is increasingly becoming an iPad culture.

As GigaOM notes, third-party resellers can still discount the TouchPad, so there’s a good chance that even cheaper deals will be offered on HP’s tablet.

HP realizes the dire situation that the TouchPad is in, and the company promises that it is working on upcoming models of its tablet line with faster specs and integrated mobile broadband radios.

What do you think of the HP TouchPad? Does it stand a chance against the iPad? Or will it fall way of the Motorola Xoom?

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