gdgt

The thing is, this fire sale hasn't caused a demand for the "Touchpad", but rather for a $99 tablet.

I really think it was out of HP's control. You're right, selling the tablet for $99 would have been a bad business move that would have netted them a huge loss of money but a very large consumer base. I think if they had started the 16GB at $199 and the 32GB at $249-$299 they still would have lost money, but a tablet 1/2 the price of an iPad with decidedly better specs probably would have sold almost as well as they have this past weekend.

With a significant user base that would have come of the low price point, they could prove their brand when it comes to the mobile space and probably could have expanded their sales in the future with devices like the Pre 3.

Either that or raise ink prices to $70 a cartridge.

I think that HP should've released the TouchPad after WebOS 3.0.2 came out. Because it was released with a bunch of bugs that really annoyed reviewers, the TouchPad didn't get a great reception at all. Also, HP should really have marketed these better. Seeing Manny Pacquiao advertise the TouchPad really made me cringe. Lastly, releasing the TouchPad to be priced the same as the iPad was a very very stupid mistake. They should've followed Asus' route and competed at pricing as well. For a company that sells budget computers and laptops, you'd think that the would carry that same pricing philosophy over.

This OS really had potential, but the combination of crappy marketing, a rushed-delayed launch really hurt the TouchPad, and a not-so-competitive price brought this tablet down.

HP really should have been more aggressive getting phones to the marketplace to build the WebOS ecosystem up quickly. I know they talked about how long the development cycle can take but it is hardly like they had to start from square one after acquiring Palm. They needed to get out some handsets that would make the Pre/Pixi owners happy and a slew of devices that consumers could get free with contract ASAP (there's no shame in using an outside company to expedite the process, either). Apple does well because it is Apple, Android does well because it is everywhere. More phones would have gotten into people's hands, and more apps would have been developed due to the user base.

The Pre2's soft launch, the Veer's late and weak launch, and the Pre3's anti-launch should really stand out as the embodiment of worst-case scenario for any company trying to make a dent in the mobile space. It wouldn't have hurt to let the homebrew community tweak the Touchpads that went out to critics, either, but I really think the phone situation caused the horrible Touchpad launch.

Remember when WebOS was announced for the first time, and then we waited months for its eventual lackluster release? They needed to not do that.

Apps and price. WebOS is beautiful but the lack of apps really is a killer. If they made it, say, $349 (device costs $338 to make so they'd still be making money), and it had a good amount of apps, I could see it succeeding.

John Gruber also had a good suggestion as to what HP could've done - sell the TouchPad for $99 for a limited time to get an early adopter audience and then perhaps make the money back and even profit from people buying it at the normal price later and people buying apps in the market. daringfireball.net­/linked­/2011­/08­/20­/touchpad­-topo...

HP Blew it. It would be hard to fix now. The problem was the price point. The iPad is both the Camry (best seller) and the Series 3 (perceived as best) of its category. You can't compete with them with an inferior product similarly priced. HP should have taken a hit and sold the touch pad at 250$. I think it would have sold well given them a beach head in the market, on which they could have fill out the feature set and apps to really compete with the iPad. It is obvious HP doesn't want the consumer portion of the market. Why did they wasted so much money in Palm, the deal with Beats, and so much consumer promotion is beyond me.