While few people bought Hewlett-Packard’s TouchPad, those who did are likely suffering from buyer’s remorse.
HP CEO Leo Apotheker’s plan to overhaul the tech giant includes killing off the TouchPad tablet, leaving buyers saddled with a discontinued product just weeks after it hit stores.
HP shocked the computing world — not to mention consumers — this week with its decision to halt production of tablets and smartphones based on its own webOS software.
Until then, Apotheker had been championing a mobile future with webOS tablets and smartphones as an alternative to rival Apple. The company backed that vision with an aggressive marketing campaign for the TouchPad tablet.
HP didn’t disclose how many tablets it sold. One report estimated that of the 250,000 TouchPads in Best Buy stores, only 10 percent of them were sold.
Still, the tech world is sympathizing with anyone who bought the now orphaned TouchPad.
Tablet consumers are lured to products with the promise of apps and software upgrades. Tablets are dynamic and evolving — that is until developers drop off or a company pulls the plug like HP has done.
Retailers were still carrying webOS devices in stores at the end of the week. BestBuy was selling the product at full price as of yesterday, but salespeople didn’t rule out the possibility of a fire sale.
There is still some hope for webOS. HP is looking at options for the software, including a sale or licensing it to another manufacturer.