(Image source: Mobiclue)
BY YUTAKA HAYASHI AND JIM FLINK
ANCHOR JIM FLINK
You're watching multisource tech news analysis from Newsy.
The HP TouchPad -- isn’t dead yet.
In fact -- it may just be getting started.
That’s the word this week from Hewlett Packard.
On its Next Bench blog -- HP management writes...
“Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand.”
Unfulfilled demand?
We talking about the same TouchPad -- that HP couldn’t unload through sellers like Best Buy?
The one that led to that huge 99-dollar firesale?
That’s the one -- CNET says -- it worked.
“There’s no denying that the TouchPad firesale made it one of the hottest items on earth for a few days. But were those buyers savvy? Or stupid?”
Well -- it worked -- and it didn’t.
PC World says -- yeah, people are buying the TouchPad -- but not because anyone loves it.
Most certainly -- not suppliers.
“...upstream suppliers are not happy about getting stuck with TouchPad component inventory… HP knows there is demand for the tablet at the $99 fire sale price and it just makes more sense than taking a loss on unused tablet component. ... the TouchPad is still dead.”
If it’s dead -- don’t tell HP. ZDNet notes, the mobile ad agency Jumptap is reporting -- HP’s spinoff -- just collected some serious TouchPad ad revenue. If so, HP may have backed into a gold mine. (Image: ZDNet)
“....in just ten days the HP TouchPad has almost caught all Android tablets in ad revenue generated on their network. Whatever is behind these numbers it does make one believe that producing an ad-subsidized tablet (think Amazon) might be a viable business model.”
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