HP TouchPad

Best Buy may offer heavily discounted Hewlett-Packard TouchPads in the coming weeks because the big box retailer is rumored to be having a hard time unloading its stock of WebOS tablets. Best Buy has reportedly sold just 25,000 TouchPads after ordering 270,000 to sell in its big box stores across the United States. Making matters worse, Best Buy isn't confident it can sell through its stock and wants HP to take back the retailer's TouchPad inventory, according to AllThingsD. That's bad news for HP, but it also means the computer manufacturer may try to strike a deal to keep the TouchPad on Best Buy's shelves.

Bad reviews

HP's first foray into tablets (also known as the iPad market) has been met with lackluster success. Most reviewers dinged the WebOS tablet for its slow responsiveness, buggy software and sparse app catalog. PCWorld gave the TouchPad 2.5 out of 5 stars, chiefly complaining about the device's slow performance. Things didn't get much better in early August after HP released its first major firmware update for the TouchPad. "Our testing found that it [the TouchPad firmware update] doesn't do much to improve upon the TouchPad's lousy performance.

TouchPad price plummet

Beyond the bad reviews, the TouchPad has received a string of price cuts beginning just weeks after the device's July 1 launch date. By July 30, HP knocked $50 off the cost of both TouchPad models, originally set to mirror the iPad's pricing. HP's cut pulled TouchPad prices down to $449 (16GB) and $549 (32GB). By early August, smart shoppers could find TouchPads for about $100 cheaper. Then HP permanently slashed the TouchPad's price tags to $399 and $499 respectively. Best Buy May Slash HP TouchPad PricesGiven how quickly the TouchPad's prices have fallen, it's a pretty good bet that HP is having a hard time convincing tablet buyers to forgo the iPad for HP's WebOS slate. So the rumors about Best Buy's dissatisfaction sound plausible, and we should have a better idea of what's going on with the TouchPad in the coming days.

HP faces the music

On Thursday, HP will release its first quarterly earnings report since the TouchPad launched, an event that may shed some light on sales figures for the device. And AllThingsD says an HP executive has been dispatched to Best Buy's Minneapolis headquarters to discuss the TouchPad dilemma. It's unclear what may come of that meeting, but there could be some serious TouchPad deals headed your way.
The question is will consumers be willing to shell out money for a TouchPad at this point, no matter what the price?

More Informative

Retailers have started selling TouchPad, Hewlett-Packard’s webOS-based tablet, at drastically lower prices with the price of the 16GB and 32GB devices reduced considerably to $99 and $149 respectively.

The fall in prices has come just a day after HP announced that the company will halt the device’s production and will shut down operations for its webOS devices.

The company reportedly sent a memo to its associates and announced the $300 price cut, which will come on top of a $100 price cut that went into effect earlier this month.

"HP will be lowering the price of the TouchPad beginning Saturday 8/20/11. This is the lowest price ever for the TouchPad.

Best Buy in Canada is currently selling the 16 GB TouchPad for $99.99, compared to its previous price of $399.99. The 32 GB version of the device has had its price cut from $499.99 to $149.99. The site said that the sale ends on August 22.