HP TouchPad

martin451

The web is currently buzzing with the news that HP are discontinuing all of their webOS smartphones and tablets.

As a result of this, the TouchPad has been on sale at massively reduced prices today in the US: $99 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi version, $149 for the 32GB version. Needless to say, US shops BestBuy, Walmart and Amazon have all sold out at these prices.

But the prices haven't come down in the UK yet. PCWorld, Amazon and Tesco are all offering the 16GB version with only £50 off the RRP of £399.

If anyone has any news of great UK deals on the HP TouchPad could you post them here asap?

Many thanks
martin451

MorrisonsEmployee

I think everyone is too busy checking certain websites in the hope of getting one - I doubt the stock will last long enough to even be posted on here!:eek:

bb69

I would love one at that price... or anywhere near..!
Thanks for posting!

KnightSmile

Same! If anyone has a link it would be most appreciated!

K:)

debug77

I've also been checking the usual places all day :j

I'm not so sure UK retailers have much stock to be honest. For example eBuyer were showing as having about 17 in stock earlier. Hardly the thousands the US retails are trying to get shot of. You never know though...

naski666

I have one reserved with PC world in case it drops in price held till tomorrow COP. If nothing happend by then it'll be a phone to HP sales to see if they have been updated.

I woke up this morning saw a tweet about $99 touchapds and have spent the day nervously checking the UK sites. I'll be gutted if I don't get one if they drop the price and I don't even need one!

Nask

Browntoa

I would bank on Amazon for shifting any high volumes of stock

martin451

Post midnight - just checked all the main UK retailers: Argos, PCWorld, Amazon, Tesco, John Lewis (never knowingly undersold - subject to certain caveats).

Looks like they're not going to follow the US price reduction (they are all - coincidentally - offering the TouchPad at exactly the same price as each other). Is this another case of Rip-Off Britain? Do these retailers think UK consumers are stupid?

If a product has been withdrawn from the marketplace and is no longer going to be supported by the product maker, how can you justify a premium price for the discontinued product? Are the market conditions so different in the UK from the US (or Canada) to justify such a price differential? I don't think so. Did somebody say "cartel"?

At the moment the best price in the UK for an HP TouchPad appears to be Staples: £291.65 for the 16 GB version. It's still a rip-off. By my calculations $99 = £60.

UK retailers: wake up or lose out.

MorrisonsEmployee

martin451 wrote: »

Post midnight - just checked all the main UK retailers: Argos, PCWorld, Amazon, Tesco, John Lewis (never knowingly undersold - subject to certain caveats).

Looks like they're not going to follow the US price reduction (they are all - coincidentally - offering the TouchPad at exactly the same price as each other). Is this another case of Rip-Off Britain? Do these retailers think UK consumers are stupid?

If a product has been withdrawn from the marketplace and is no longer going to be supported by the product maker, how can you justify a premium price for the discontinued product? Are the market conditions so different in the UK from the US (or Canada) to justify such a price differential? I don't think so. Did somebody say "cartel"?

At the moment the best price in the UK for an HP TouchPad appears to be Staples: £291.65 for the 16 GB version. It's still a rip-off. By my calculations $99 = £60.

UK retailers: wake up or lose out.

The companies have to wait for a 'liquidation' authorisation from HP - If they reduce the price off their own backs they will recieve no credit for any price adjustments, However once they have authorisation HP will credit back the differnce.

No retailer is going to take a loss of £200-300 when they don't have to! Im sure as the HP helpline said these will be reduced early next week in the UK.

martin451

MorrisonsEmployee wrote:

The companies have to wait for a 'liquidation' authorisation from HP - If they reduce the price off their own backs they will recieve no credit for any price adjustments, However once they have authorisation HP will credit back the differnce.

No retailer is going to take a loss of £200-300 when they don't have to! Im sure as the HP helpline said these will be reduced early next week in the UK.

Interesting - it seems strange that the UK lags behind Canada and the US by over 48 hours - how long does it take to issue and receive a "liquidation authorisation" in the digital world? These things should be issued multilaterally to cover all global commercial markets instantaneously.

After all, the markets never sleep.

And it would avert the need to refund people who paid the full price in the interim period.

MorrisonsEmployee

martin451 wrote: »

Interesting - it seems strange that the UK lags behind Canada and the US by over 48 hours - how long does it take to issue and receive a "liquidation authorisation" in the digital world? These things should be issued multilaterally to cover all global commercial markets instantaneously.

After all, the markets never sleep.

And it would avert the need to refund people who paid the full price in the interim period.

Many websites 'shut down' over the weekend in terms of updates etc, which is why glitches can run all weekend only to be corrected on a Monday morning.

We always lag behind the States when it comes to things like this and im sure HP are not too bothered if the item is reduced in the UK on a Saturday or a Monday - They have washed their hands of the product and lost $$ already so its hardly an important product launch/fire sale for them.

Also we have no idea how much stock there is to shift in the UK - I doubt its very much at all and HP will not be rushing to get more shipped here if they can sell it in countries that are holding stock. Its widely reported that 'Best Buy' in the US had 300,000 TouchPads in stock, I very much doubt that all the companies selling it in the UK added together have a quarter of that!