Following the decision to pull the plug on Hewlett-Packard’s Linux-based mobile operating system, WebOS, the California co. are beginning US price slashes on its HP TouchPad tablet, which was released overseas less than 7 weeks ago.
From today, lucky tablet shoppers in the States can grab a slab for less than a fifth of retailer’s original asking price on the lowest spec tech. That means the cost of a 16GB HP TouchPad is now slashed from $500 to only $99, with big bro 32GB model down from $600 to $149. We were stunned to read these fees and believed them to be pure fiction, but when multiple sources reported the same story and then HP’s official website and product listing for the HP TouchPad changed to confirm the price, we were sold.
Hewlett Packard is leaping off the HP TouchPad and WebOS like survivors of the Titanic, and we don’t get why. The HP TouchPad showed a great deal of promise in the tablet war against iPad 2. It seems not even a promotional push featuring bragadious Brit comedy-actor Russell Brand could raise HP’s spirits and save the tablet from the impending threat of Apple.
With the HP TouchPad released little over a month ago here in the UK, can we hope for similar price cuts make it overseas? If the discounts translate we could see the 16GB tablet drop from £349 to less than £80, and the 32GB model plummet to around £90.
Send us your thoughts via tweet to the Official Gadget Helpline Twitter or drop us a comment on our Official Facebook page!