HP Website Hints at Additional TouchPad Inventory

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Could there be more TouchPads on the way?

Perhaps you're one of the lucky ones who managed to snag a $99 HP TouchPad before every store in the country sold out. However, it's more likely that you're one of the not-so-lucky ones who found out about the sale just a couple of hours too late (or were thwarted by jittery online stores and limited inventory) and didn't get a TouchPad at all. For the disappointed, all is not lost, because there may be more TouchPads!

HP has put a notice up on the HP TouchPad landing page thanking customers for their interest in the device and informing them that the device is completely sold out. But while some stores are listing the device as 'discontinued,' HP's notice says the company is 'temporarily' out of stock.'

Due to the significant price reduction, we experienced overwhelming demand for the product and are temporarily out of inventory. Please enter your email address below to be notified if we have stock available.

Entering your email address throws back a thank you notice that exchanges 'if' for 'when'.

Thank you. We will contact you via email when the product becomes available again.

Sure, it's not a definite promise that more TouchPads will go on sale, but it does suggest that HP may be having second thoughts about axing the device. What started out as a fire sale to flush all remaining inventory out of retail channels as soon as possible soon turned into a feeding frenzy. The tablets are now selling for up to $300 on eBay (32GB model) and Craigslist users are willing to pay $200. We'll keep you posted on the status of any upcoming TouchPad inventory. Would you buy one if they became available again at the discounted price?

Jane McEntegart

Jane McEntegart works in marketing communications at Intel and was previously Manager of Content Marketing at ASUS North America. Before that, she worked for more than seven years at Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, holding such roles as Contributing Editor and Senior News Editor and writing about everything from smartphones to tablets and games consoles.

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31 Comments Comment from the forums
  • CTT
    CNN had an article about the fire sale, an HP rep said another shipment was being brought out of storage this week. We'll see I guess.
    Reply
  • tranzz
    This shows what consumers want from a tablet. A great feature set BUT around ~£100 price tag.
    Reply
  • davewolfgang
    Oh H3LL yeah!! $99 and $149??? I can't believe I missed the first wave, but then I was at work.
    Reply
  • huron
    I'll agree with everyone. I think $100 made it a no-brainer for a lot of people. I think (as evidenced by the Craigslist and ebay sales) that people would even pay a little more for a decent tablet.

    Here's hoping I can get my hands on one (or two).
    Reply
  • RazberyBandit
    I'm going to wager that any remaining TouchPads will cost at least twice as much as last week's wave did. HP might seem like they haven't a clue what to do with their company lately still bow down to the "Almighty Dollar." (They have to for their shareholders.) HP would be seriously mistaken to let any remaining inventory sell for $99, especially when TouchPads are already being re-sold on auction sites for $300+.
    Reply
  • kinggraves
    It isn't that "decent" with WebOS but once you drop the price enough, modders will work on them and get them to be as functional as a normal tablet with Android installed. This is what happened with the first netbooks that were severely underpowered, and it's also what happened with less functional tablets like the Nook Color and Archos. All of these companies need to realize that the average tablet user is the average "Apple consumer", so there really isn't a lot of market space for tablets that are trying to do the same thing. There IS however still plenty of room for cheaper tablets that can still do the same sorts of things.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    If this works HP is genius. The only way into the tablet market dominated by Apple is to offer a decent product at a cut rate price, even a loss. Everyone that is getting one of these for $100 will be happy as hell with them unless they simply don't work at all. So they will get good press, market share, and word of mouth sells. For this to work HP has to play it down or investors would be pissed off.
    Reply
  • killakat
    JamesSneedIf this works HP is genius. The only way into the tablet market dominated by Apple is to offer a decent product at a cut rate price, even a loss. Everyone that is getting one of these for $100 will be happy as hell with them unless they simply don't work at all. So they will get good press, market share, and word of mouth sells. For this to work HP has to play it down or investors would be pissed off.
    Yep... I knew there was a plan all along. Why else would a company make more of a product that they deemed as unsuccessful.

    "Aww, this spaghetti is so TERRIBLE *Inom nom nom* Who would make *nom nom* such crap on a plate?! *nom nom, gains 10 more pounds*"
    Reply
  • scubastevo2005
    EnriqueForbes is a moron, penny auction sites are a rip off, pay 60 cents for one penny vote, that LED TV you think you got a great deal on cost people around $3768, local best buy sells it for around $1000, sounds like a smoking deal to me, lack of common sense! I was able to get my hands on 2 of the Tablets, did some minor upgrades and downloads, was able to make it run faster, not log files, and it would great! Not to mention its pretty easy to overclock these without problems!
    Reply
  • Umm - if you read the rest of the cnn article referenced above the sales reps basically say that while some stores sold their inventory at the $99 price tag other chains elected to return the shipments to HP for a refund (rather than go through an accounting hassle of massive consumer shipments followed by working through HP to get the difference settled up). The touchpads which HP will be putting up for sale in the not too distant future are these returned inventory shipments.
    Reply