Hewlett Packard Co's TouchPad tablet on August 22 became one of the fastest-selling technology offerings in Australian retail history, as the company dumps stock ahead of a major transformation.
The central Sydney outlet of major electronics retailer Harvey Norman sold its complete stock of 6,000 in less than an hour, and it was the same right around the country.
But rival Apple Inc and its iPad 2 have no need to get nervous. The HP TouchPad, launched in Australia just a week ago at 499 Australian dollars (513 US dollars), was in the bargain bin at just 98 Australian dollars, as part of the manufacturer's bid to move away from personal computer manufacturing.
Similar sales and prices were seen around the world, after the California-based company on Thursday announced that it was scaling back its production in the competitive personal-computer market to focus on providing higher-end solutions to corporate clients.
HP said it was to "discontinue operations" for the TouchPad, which has "not met internal milestones and financial targets." The company had been a major producer of consumer computers since acquiring Compaq Computer Corp in 2002.
Harvey Norman computer and communications general manager Ben McIntosh explained that "we've negotiated with HP that from this afternoon we will be having an HP TouchPad stock liquidation with the tablets going out very cheap."
And go they did. Some were quickly on auction site eBay - for those keen on a slice of gizmo history that HP is likely to quickly forget. Jennifer Dudley Nicholson, technology writer with The Australian, had sympathy for those who had bought the product last week when Harvey Norman began selling them for around 500 dollars.
"Just where would you sit, on a scale from Massively Annoyed to Artery-Bulging Furious, if you had bought a TouchPad on last Monday?" she asked.
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