If you told me last week that I'd be buying an HP TouchPad this evening, I probably wouldn't have believed you. But in the wake of the company's stunning decision to pull the plug on support for webOS devices, including the TouchPad, the fire sales have started and I nabbed a 32GB version for $149.
Despite reports that Best Buy was returning its stock of TouchPad tablets to HP, the retailer said Saturday night that it would be selling discounted TouchPads after all.
"Due to HP's decision to discontinue its TouchPad product, Best Buy will now provide clearance pricing for all HP TouchPad models regardless of previously advertised prices or promotions," Best Buy said in a note on its forums.
It was a big weekend for HP, but for all the wrong reasons. Shoppers overloaded the HP servers and rushed to their local Best Buy stores in the hopes of nabbing a TouchPad tablet at rock-bottom prices. But unfortunately for HP, it was just getting rid of existing inventory; those discounts are not likely to help its bottom line.
So I hear thousands of people are buying HP TouchPads because they want to run Android on the tablets, an operating system which does not yet run on the TouchPad. Stop now. You must stop. If you're buying a TouchPad in the hope that soon "TouchDroid" will have a great, stable, fast version of Android for it, you are falling into a major geek trap.
"We will have more information available in the next few days about whether or not more will be available and if so, what the details will be about the situation," HP said in a Q&A posted on its blog.
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. "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."