Well that’s it people. HP is saying “so long and thanks for all the fish” to its much talked about iPad competitor.
Thrown in with some press announcements, HP has said:
“In addition, HP reported that it plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimise the value of webOS software going forward.”
With a release of August 15 locally and a death of August 19, this has been one of the shortest lifespans we’ve ever seen on a gadget.
HP Australia has yet to make an official statement on the matter, but we expect that the future of the TouchPad doesn’t look too bright.
Guess it goes to show that there is a limit to the tablet market. I imagine we’ll see some further rationalisation – Apple has set the bar so high that unless you’re selling an Android clone, developing your own device and software is just too big and risky an investment.
HP are officially selling the 16GB version for $99 in the US starting today. I wonder if they’ll reach a decent price in Australia.
Whatever happened to testing before releasing a product – obviously this one slipped through the system – very bad PR for a great company as HP
If I can get one now for under $100, I will definitely buy it. There’s nothing wrong with it, but as most tech experts are saying, when people think tablet they think iPad, and regardless of how good the touchpad is, consumers just didn’t want it. I was looking forward to getting my hands on one after a price drop, so to me this is great news! Shame there won’t be a later model though.
Well, I hot a 32GB for $148 so I was happy, wish I could have bought more. There are now 6000 of us in Australia so I hope there will some ongoing WebOS support, or a way of repalcing with Android instead. Gadget Guy’s ongoing interest would be useful. The product may be “obsolete” but its 6000 Australian users aren’t!
I’m actually talking to HP about this later this week! 🙂