HP already offering $50 "instant rebates" on TouchPad tablet
The sales woes for any tablet not named "iPad" continue, as HP's much ballyhooed TouchPad is already being discounted mere weeks after its launch.
HP is now selling both its 16GB and 32GB TouchPad versions with a $50 "instant rebate," which is obviously a nicer way of saying "price cut." The new price for the 32GB version is now $549.99 and the 16GB model is $449.99. Best Buy's Web site is blunter, listing the TouchPad as a "sale" item. Amazon.com goes even further in lowering the price on the 16GB model, selling it for $528.95.
The price cuts are obviously designed to make the TouchPad appear to be a better deal than the iPad 2, which costs $499 for its 16GB flavor and $599 for 32GB iteration. Whether that makes a difference in HP's tablet sales is yet to be seen, but it joins Acer as another tablet maker who's hoping to make a bigger splash by dropping prices. (Acer has recently reduced the price of its Iconia A500 tablet.)
Reviews for the TouchPad, which runs webOS from HP's acquisition of Palm, have been decent, but not stellar, and ultimately that may be the issue -- not shaving a few dollars off the price.
[Via PC World]