HP TouchPads May Be Dumped in Landfill
So what will HP do with all those unsold tablets? Either sell them off at "fire sale" prices, or bury them in a device "graveyard," maybe even next to Atari's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
Now that HP has made it publicly known that it's ditching webOS-based gadgets like tablets and smartphones, what's to become of TouchPad tablets stockpiled in retailer warehouses? One theory is that the company plans to dump them all in a landfill thanks to the American government.
While HP hasn't said anything official, hardware dumps by previous manufacturers pave the way to a similar doom for HP's tablets. One of the most notorious dumps to date is Atari's abandonment of nearly five million E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man cartridges back in 1983. Both games were so horribly conceived that many consumers actually brought them back. In addition to unsold consoles, Atari stuffed 14 trucks full of those rejected cartridges and dumped the entire load into the city landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
So why not just sell off the inventory at a discounted price? Because it seems that companies make more money in the long run by simply writing off the unsold inventory for tax relief. With that in mind, any hopes that HP will actually liquidate its stockpile by drastically reducing the tablet's price seem pointless. Then again, the company is reportedly offering retailers a case payout for the devices, meaning that they can return their inventory of TouchPads, or use the cash to sell the devices at "fire sale" prices.
If the retailers bite and they decide to sell the tablets at a huge reduction, consumers may think the deal is a steal. But the tablet will also have its limitations given that the operating system is "on hold." Updates are unlikely, and given that consumers owning a webOS product will be minimal at best, it's unlikely that developers will churn out additional apps. If anything, hackers may enjoy nuking the webOS software and (possibly) installing Android 3.x "Honeycomb" instead.
Thursday's news that HP was bailing out on webOS tablets and smartphones was quite a surprise, leaving many to question why the company didn't give the OS a chance. But HP CEO Leo Apotheker said that the decision was difficult but necessary. Cathy Lesjak, HP’s CFO, added that the company expected the TouchPad to establish itself as the #2 platform, but its pricing didn't produce demand. WebOS also needs further development, and ultimately the risks of continuing on as is far outweighed the possible rewards.
“If you look at the run rate losses there, you can attribute them pretty much to Palm,” Lesjak said.
So what ultimately killed the TouchPad? Rival devices sporting Android and iOS? Was it the device's hardware that really kept it from succeeding? According to reports, the tablet's hardware set actually stopped the webOS team from innovating beyond certain points, imposing constraints. The team said it loaded webOS on Apple's iPad and found the software to run "twice as fast" than its home device. The team even reportedly didn't want to develop for the TouchPad and Pre smartphones because of the hardware limitations. With all that in mind, if webOS performed horribly on the current devices on the market, word-of-mouth may have ultimately killed off HP's plans.
It will be interesting to see what happens within the next few weeks. Will retailers offer the doomed tablet for $150 or possibly even cheaper, or will they be sent out to the pasture like Atari's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man cartridges? Let's hope for an awesome fire sale.
- Firefox's Tablet UI Scheduled for Firefox 9 Integration
- Sexting, Retweet and Cyberbullying Added to Dictionary
- Android's Andy Rubin Shared First Bonus with Staff
- Motorola Mobility Sued Over Google Acquisition
- Cellphone Concept For Those With Arthritis
- Meet the Futuristic Hyundai Concept Motorcycle
- Apple Adding DisplayPort to Future Mobile Devices?
- Hulu, MSN Track Users With "Supercookies"
- HP Dumping Tablet and Phone Products, webOS on Hold
- GameStop's Game Streaming Service in Early Beta
- Cadillac to Build Sexy Volt-Based Electric Coupe
- Scientists Predict Possible Ice Increase in Arctic
- Sony: Vita Will Pull Gamers From Tablets, Phones (Specs)
- Windows Phone 7 "Mango" Done, Says Microsoft
- DIY Isomorphic Keyboard Makes Awesome Music
- Goodbye Soil: Researchers Grow Crops on Thin Films
- Google Magnifier Launched, a Blog for Google Music
- Apple Accused of Altering Second Photo in Samsung Suit
- Canada Post Puts the BlackBerry On a Stamp
Get one cheap and wait till someone ports Android or a related bootleg project to it. Win! (if you're interested in a tablet that is...)
If they dump them for a tax write-off, this would be yet another horrible example of our atrocious US tax laws (and dollars) at work.
Should we give them to orphanages and schools? Nah, just trash em…
Why? Why bury them when you can sell them, even at a loss? That makes no sense!
Give it to needy schools/college students. It's not the best but it's free :]
Give it to needy schools/college students. It's not the best but it's free :]
If the price were right, I would have bought 1...
Maybe they should have viewed the TouchPad as a console: Sell it at a loss, and make up the difference on software...
Put if for a $100. I'll buy one.
If they're really going to dump them in a landfill, they might as well give them away. It will be more ecological and they'll make some happy "customers". I would gladly take one for light web surfing. Even with no support whatsoever. The open source community would know what to do! I'd even pay somewhere around $50, but it seems HP makes less money this way...
I'd buy one for sure if they did a fire sale at like 150$ for a 16, the thing is sweet! I just have no use for one so it ain't worth 500 or even 400$, but 150 would make a neat toy.
If they bury them... I hope a terrorist group blows their company into the ground. Scumbags. Yeah, let's BURY THEM. And you guys complain about APPLE!?
Before they burry the tablets, HP extracts all rare earth and metal parts. Batteries are not determind for waste disposale in untouched rural areas.
It's just a hyped up way of feeling sorry for themselves. What will happen is they will ship to Mexico and countries like that. This is where a lot of discontinued stuff ends up...and people will buy it. Go to any Costco store in Mexico and you'll see "new" products no longer sold in the US Costco store. The same goes for Office Depot and OfficeMax.
this is retarded. donate these little shits to schools or something. as if there wouldn't be a tax write off there.
I'll buy one! I won't pay over $99 though and even that's too expensive. It's sad to see they want to sell their PC market. My family always owned a HP. Until you can just build your own
Why can't they take their losses and sell them (I realize it won't be much) to a recycling plant?
maybe this will be their fate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-whDD3aCJw
I want one cheap!
Although I think WebOS is a great platform they should just ditch it on these and put Android Honeycomb on them. The hardware is fine and they would sell.
These might be awesome devices to install windows 8 on when it comes out. And if you can get one for $100-$200 then its a steal just to use for surfing the web.
Because it seems that companies make more money in the long run by simply writing off the unsold inventory for tax relief
Yup.That is one of the reasons why we lose money.And we foot the bill as well.
Close those Corporate loopholes.
Um I guess they haven't heard of recycling.
HP's CFO also admitted that they dumped the tablet because it wasn't going to make profit in Q4, and was going to need investment in the next 2 years.
That's how far HP looks into the future: the next quarter.
But that's understandable is you listen to what HP's VP of software says: "[we]...do what's good for the shareholder, the customer and the employees". In that order. Shareholders might not be interested in "next year" since they might have already sold their stock by then.
Customers come second and you all know what happens if you're not number one on the list.
I hope HP is able to sell them off for $50 and use a tax writeoff for the remaining wholesale value.
I just opened a new landfill in my yard. HP contact me for details.
Just stick a Compaq badge on them and sell them as "refurbished" to avoid any warranty - support issues. Or better yet ... give them to me.
Could make a huge interactive wall from them.
Donate.
Find the biggest advantage with some or little more work applied and sale from a difference.
Find an interest where going through alot would be Scientific.
Find an Interest where going through alot would be non-wasteful. (may conflict with donating)
Recycle.
Idk, theres probably more and already mentioned of course. Like the "wall" idea but probbaly complicated for it though.
Bundle it with every HP desktop computer purchase...for free!!! It's still a write-off and will boost HP sales.
This just in, Aplle sues HP for modding an ipad
If they get a tax write-off for making an ill conceived product than isn't he public subsidizing corporations?
Hey they're selling them between 99- 150$ up here in Canada
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/pro [...] 72bd05en02
WTF? How can you dump electronics in 2011? For Tax Refund? They should be fined heavily if they do that. How about, I don't know RECYCLE them???? or better yet, just install a lite version of Android and sell them as Android tablets.
Hey they're selling them between 99- 150$ up here in Canadahttp://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/pro [...] 72bd05en02
Makes sense FutureShop would sell them. The staff can honestly say they know nothing about it being discontinued and try to up sell you the extended warranty and extra gear that goes with it. Actually most of the staff can just say they know nothing