HP Getting Rid of Defunct TouchPad and Charging $99 for Dumping it on Users

HP wouldn't really be enjoying the rare opportunity to feel like Apple, watching its buyers crowding stores to grab a TouchPad selling at $99. Many are poking fun at the makers of the tablet touted as iPad 2 killer, for meeting with a fate none would have imagined when it was introduced in the market back on July 1, this year.

Why isn't it a good idea to buy a TouchPad at $99 which sold for $499 a couple of weeks ago? Because it is still costing you $99 and you would end up with a tablet device, with an OS of uncertain, if not doomed, future.

TouchPad's webOS, believed to be a major iOS and Android contender, was acquired from a Palm acquisition last July for $1.8 billion.

Yesterday we announced that we will focus on the future of webOS as a software platform but we will no longer be producing webOS devices, said HP's global developer relations SVP, Richard Kerris. While this was a difficult decision, it's one that will strengthen our ability to focus on further innovating with webOS as we forge our path forward.

HP has completely given up on the tablet hardware business, and it isn't hard to figure out the fate of the OS the TouchPad ran on. Bug fixes and certain enhancement updates could be expected but it will definitely not be a competent OS and in all its likeliness you might end up as an obsolete TouchPad owner in a world dominated by iOS 5.0 and Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Already out-dated hardware, lot of bugs and lot less apps, these were the major complaints against TouchPad which forced HP to discontinue the business and slash the prices. If a device was introduced without many apps, you can't rationally expect it to get some more after its sales are discontinued.

HP TouchPad reviews, when it was introduced, was far too underwhelming, and a number of industry analysts described it as too expensive (same price as iPad and iPad 2) and too heavy (9% more than iPad, 23% more than iPad 2). Had the device been priced at a fairer $199 from day one, would any buyer be enthusiastic now of getting one at $99? Probably not. More than the attractiveness of the device itself, it is the reduction margin that prompts buyers into shelling out $99. Price reduction margin doesn't necessarily make the HP TouchPad the best bet at $99.