HP"s failed attempt to enter the tablet market, the HP TouchPad, got officially staked by the company on Thursday (although we are still wondering why we are still seeing those annoying HP TouchPad TV commercials with Lea Michelle while we watch CNBC). While the company may be trying to do something with the webOS operating system going forward it is now officially clearing the deck as far as the TouchPad tablet is concerned. HP is now selling the TouchPad at near rock bottom prices.
Starting now, the 16 GB version of the TouchPad is going for a mere $99, a $300 price cut from its previous price of $399 (which itself was cut from its original price of $499 just last week). It"s an even better deal with the 32 GB version, where its new price is $149 compared to its previous price of $499 (and even lower than its starting price of $599).
While this tiny prices may be tempting, keep in mind that HP is no longer making any more TouchPads so support for these devices in terms of software updates is likely to be sparse. In face its likely that HP will never update the TouchPad after Thursday"s decision. However people who want to buy a tablet device with a rather unique operating system at a truly fire sale price might want to jump on this quickly. Indeed we suspect that with these low prices, the HP TouchPad might actually do what HP had hoped it will do all along: be a best seller.
Update: For some odd reason HP has changed its $149 price for the 32 GB version back to $499 on its web site.