$99 HP TouchPad: Remaining Online Inventory May be Last for the Tablet
Electronics manufacturer HP has stated that currently, its inventory of the TouchPad tablet computer is limited only to the online stock available by certain retailers.
After the TouchPad was discontinued in August, it began garnering commercial success due to a drastically liquidated price; retail stores slashed its price from $499 to just $99 for the 16GB model. The $32 GB saw a price cut to $149.
Online retailers such as Amazon currently sell the 16GB TouchPad for approximately $250, but the tablet has been sold out in stores for months.
HP has announced via its website that it may not be able to meet the continuing demand for the TouchPad.
"At HP, we try very hard to provide a positive experience to every customer who purchases an HP product," HP said in a statement on its website.
"In some cases, like the HP TouchPad where supply has been extremely limited from the start, we simply cannot meet demand."
Many sources have reported that HP has plans to produce between 100,000 and 200,000 TouchPad units to provide retail stores with a final inventory, in order to aid with selling remaining accessories, as well as chassis’.
"Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand," HP said.
The final shipment was expected to be available in late October, but stores have yet to receive the shipments.
Industry experts project that the current available inventory of the TouchPad may be its last.
However, HP insists that more TouchPads are "on the way."
"We can’t promise we’ll have enough for everyone," HP added.