I’ll be honest here, I really want HP to do well in the tablet space Theoretically, HP has many of the same advantages with webOS as Apple has with iOS: the two companies totally control both their software and their hardware… a potentially huge advantage over the competition. Plus, webOS is genuinely an awesome, exciting platform, and if it ever gets off the ground properly, iOS will benefit from some real competition.
That said, their first tablet, the TouchPad, was very much a beta product. Featuring a bulky design and a serious derth of tablet-optimized apps, not many people chose a TouchPad over the iPad. No wonder, then, that HP’s had to slice $100 off its asking price.
All Things D’s Ina Fried reports:
If the $50 discount on the HP TouchPad wasn’t telling enough, the WebOS tablet is now being offered in a few spots for $100 or more below its original price.
Earlier this week I noticed the 32GB model at Costco for $479 — $120 off the standard $599 price. Then, a few minutes ago, while watching ABC’s “Modern Family,” I caught an HP TouchPad ad touting that the entry-level model is being offered for $399 — a Benjamin Franklin less than the original asking price.
The fine print of the TV spot does say it is a limited-time offer running Friday through Sunday, while the Costco deal appears to run only through Friday. It remains to be seen whether HP needs to make the price drop permanent in order to compete with the iPad and other tablets on the market.
I admit, that doesn’t look good, but honestly, that’s a steal of a price for a tablet with a lot of promise. If for whatever reason you’re looking for something besides an iPad in a tablet, or just want to see what the competition is like, $399 for an HP TouchPad is a great deal.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
46 responses to “Slaughtered By iPad 2, HP TouchPad Price Dips To Just $399”
There was a full page ad on page three of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram today about this larger discount. Â I knew about the $50 discount, but was surprised by the $100 one. Â This does not bode well for HP. Â And their tablet showed a lot of promise.
Zane
“If for whatever reason you’re looking for something besides an iPad in a tablet, or just want to see what the competition is like, $399 for an HP TouchPad is a great deal.”
I wouldn’t take it for free.
Even HP employees here in the bay area are buying iPads out of their own pocket. Their HP supplied tablet sits on a shelf.
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I’ll take one for free only if HP throws in a laser printer like they USED to make 15 years ago, no these shoddy plasticky jokes of late… Then I can keep my iPad and give the HP to someone I dislike passionately!
A friend of mine works for HP and was involved in some aspects of the TouchPad. I called to congratulate her efforts when it was released but secretly knew something like this would be happening (although not quite as quickly as it did, HP can make nice products).Â
The D-list celebrities HP hired for the commercials aren’t helping matters either.Â
You want a really slow and heavy 300dpi single-sided laser printer with little to no memory, a parallel port, and requires font cartridges?
Uh, I will take one for free.
Surely the HP TouchPad must be worth $400, especially if HP updates the software and gets some decent apps on it. I mean, it must be useful for something like watching movies or even just as an eReader. Is it that buggy that nothing works well on it? If that’s true, then HP will really be in big trouble. HP’s share price has already hit a 52 week low, so it certainly doesn’t want to go to war with Apple by selling tablet that they can’t give away.
I really struggle with comments like “Plus, webOS is genuinely an awesome, exciting platform, and if it ever gets off the ground properly, iOS will benefit from some real competition.”
Because Apple really failed to innovate with the iPhone at every iteration…
And look how Mac OS has stagnated without any competition from Windows 7, Linux, DOS (Happy Birthday by the way)
If I took one for free, it would probably end up gathering dust too.
After the LaserJet 4L I stopped buying HP printers?
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Hmm… this reminds me of the price drop on that thing…what was it called…the Nintendo 3DS?
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to be fair, this TouchPad is a V.1 product for both its hardware and software, and we can reasonably expect TouchPad 2 to be much better and perhaps a strong competitor. so HP fans, sit tight and hope.
but to also be fair, HP was flat out stupid to bring out such a flawed V.1 product. and you poor folks that bought one, well, you’ve paid to be used as test subjects.
HP could have made real inroads on RIM especially, whose own V.1 PlayBook tablet is even more flawed, if had aimed at the enterprise market – where it is well established – and focused on its specific needs. aiming at the general consumer market first instead – with no in-place consumer ecosystem – is also really dumb. another case of corporate Apple Envy, i guess.
The OS is really promising and is far far better than Andriod from the look and feel. Hardware…NOT CLOSE TO iPad :) the glossy finger print magnet back, thickness etc are just too ordinary. But hey who knows.. HO could learn and pick up fast. But for now, R.I.P
Too bad slashing the price will not increase demand… only the quantity sold.
yeah i put my hope too with this WebOS tablet. I was using Palm long ago and satisfied with the OS and the device. Though I am using iPad now, but I want to try WebOS too. I want HP did well too on their tablet. I hope they still make another better tablet in the future.
Odd but none of the comments about what’s wrong with WebOS tablets talk much about the lack of apps when comparing Android and IOS that always comes up. Â I would not buy one of these for the same reason I would not buy a playbook… lack of apps now and I assume in the future.
But the comments of would you take one for free; hell yeah I would. Â Although i might get rooted and loaded with a linux hack after a few months but I will take anything current tech for free just to give me something to hack up a bit. Then just give it to your kids as an ebook reader or something.
That’s ridiculous, why wouldn’t you take one for free? You can at least sell it on craigslist for $300.
But tbh, it’s a good choice for $299 (HP discount + Staples coupon) and after having one for a couple of days, I think I like webOS.
Dimension wise, it’s almost the same as the iPad 1, it even fits into most iPad cases, so unless you’re saying the original iPad is too ordinary, there’s a double standard.
Also as Alfiejr mentioned, this is HP’s first webOS tablet, and for that I think it’s a pretty good job hardware wise. I notice the weight between this and my iPad 2, but it’s not much. But I do think it feels better to hold than the iPad 2, b/c of the rounded edges.
Not sure what you’re trying to say, but w/o the competition from Android, I don’t know if the iPhone would’ve been what they were. And if you’re implying that OS X did not receive any competition from Windows, then.. umm.. I don’t know what to say.
Well, the Bill of Materials is $306 on the 16gb one…
webOS is pretty cool in terms of concept and features, just the version on the TouchPad is not optimized. There are patches and fixes from the homebrew community that can make it run very smoothly, but HP really should’ve done all that before they released the thing.