Mobile News

James Kendrick

HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

By James Kendrick | August 29, 2011, 1:31pm PDT

Summary: The HP TouchPad in ten days is generating almost as much ad revenue as all of the Android tablets combined.

Update: The HP TouchPad is the little engine that could, except it got shut down. The online frenzy about the dead tablet has been amazing to watch, as the special $99 price HP put on the TouchPad made it the tablet to own. While there is no question that HP has sold thousands of TouchPads at the ridiculous close-out pricing, it seems that one unexpected result of all these HP tablets hitting consumer’s hands is that it is making money for companies (not HP).

Mobile ad agency Jumptap just sent me a chart that is mind-blowing as it shows that in just ten days the HP TouchPad has almost caught all Android tablets in ad revenue generated on their network. While the iPad is still the king of the ad revenue generating tablet crowd, the beleaguered HP TouchPad is almost within a single percentage point in generating as much ad revenue as all of those Android tablets out there.

Updated: Jumptap had specifically mentioned sales to me prior to publication but have pointed out this chart is traffic, or ad impressions.

Does this mean HP TouchPad owners are more likely to click on ads than their Android brethren? Maybe. Or perhaps the new TouchPad owners are feeling a bit more adventurous having snagged a good tablet for a hundred bucks. Whatever is behind these numbers it does make one believe that producing an ad-subsidized tablet (think Amazon) might be a viable business model.

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Android Tablet PC, Hewlett-Packard Co., Advertising Revenue, Advertising, Tablets, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

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Enjoying this new device

maclifer 2nd Sep

All I can say is that the few days I've had the 32GB TouchPad have been enlightening to say the least. I'm a heavy OS X, iOS, Android and Win 7 user and find the TouchPad to be a wonderful, fresh breath of air. Apparently the 3.0.2 (?) update I immediately installed must have worked magic or it's been decent all along.

I have found webOS to be more useful than either iOS or Android and the unit seems very well built and everything just flows along. I have never been an HP fanboy but this is pretty impressive. I paid $270 for mine and feel that it was a steal at that price and don't have any regrets.

The homebrew community is astonishingly well done and has depth and breadth that are hard to find elsewhere. That and the fact that forums are civil, helpful and enjoyable is another pleasureable thing! I'm so used to iOS and Android fanboys screaming at each other that it's ridiculous.

Running different devices on different OS's has proven to be easily done and i'm all for using the right tool for the right device.

Just one new TouchPad fan's opinion,
Steve

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

dennis@... 29th Aug

HP - failure on this business decision. They should have kept trying until it worked. The potential is obviously there.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Fat Albert 1 29th Aug

@dennis@... You don't understand. It's already worked. Android is still trying to get it to work. In just 10 days, webOS is in millions of hands and known by millions more.

Can you imagine if HP decided to come out and say "Due to the high demand of Touchpads, Hewlett Packard was unable to supply the enormous demand for the product. Therefore, HP has decided to continue manufacturing and supporting the HP Touchpad for the foreseeable future." The 16 gb for 249 (about the cost of manufacturing) the 32 gb for 299 (about 20 dollar profit)

A satisfaction unlike any other will sweep the millions that bought a Touchpad. With the support from HP and soon app developers, word would get out that you don't have to have an iPad to be cool, especially with what Amazon has over the horizon

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

dhmccoy Updated - 30th Aug

@Fat Albert 1
Millions of hands? Where did you get that number? HP is taking a bath on this. You say $20 profit. You haven't even counted how much it costs to buy the company, develop the OS(people draw salaries), develop the HW, ad costs, shipping costs, etc.

HP is losing millions, estimated around $100m, I believe, giving this turkey away. How long you think they can withstand that?
And who would develop software for webOS? "Hey, developers, you can sell your wares to these people if you price it 75% off and lose your shirts in the process."

Touchpad is the very definition of failed product.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Peter Perry 29th Aug

How is it the little engine that could when it didn't sell at all until the price hit $99?

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Sahalu Updated - 29th Aug

@Peter Perry - That's not true. Staples had the Touchpad on special via a limited circulation email for $299. The information got leaked and Staples was swamped by demand for the Touchpad. The demand it generated was so huge, Staples ended up telling their stores to stop honoring the price. Office Depot and Office Max refused to match the $299 price as well. So yes, the Touchpad 16 gig was selling like a hot cake even at $299, but vendors refused to sell it at that price.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Peter Perry 29th Aug

@Sahalu right and that is why it was clearances just two weeks later!

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

dsjj251 29th Aug

@Peter Perry

Your response to Sahalu proves you never even wanted to understand the situation, you just came here with your mind already made up to bash HP.

What you really should do is actually read the comments in response to you instead of just looking at them and saying " you dont agree with me so i am going to just blow your comment off"

the truth is, its not like anything not named the iPad was selling in the tablet market, the HP tablet was like 7th in sales out of the 16 or so tablets sold at major retailers.

Thats not exactly bad, its just not as good as HP expected.

and Like Sahalu said, it was price that hindered this device , not the device itself.

that is what the "little engine" part means. it was a great device, it was just in a crowded market with an unreasonably high price.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

CyberGuerilla 30th Aug

@dsjj251

It is always my belief that part of the valuation of the price of a tablet is about the prospects of the ecosystem behind it.

From the beginning, the only hope for Touchpad to penetrate the market should have been to sell at break-even or even at a loss, given that WebOS trailed far behind iOS and Android. $99 is not necessarily a bad idea. Too bad HP did it after they exit the market.

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Fine, let's see what the number looks like in a month.

matthew_maurice 29th Aug

I'm shocked, shocked to find that in the days immediately after a high-profile device is noisily discontinued and shockingly reduced in price it gets a lot of use. However, I'm willing to bet that in a few days people will start to realize exactly why HP chose to kill a product it had invested a few billion dollars in. Once the novelty wears off, I'm fairly confident that so will those impressions.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

GAGendel 29th Aug

@matthew_maurice Spoken like someone with an axe to grind. Someone seems to have missed out on the fun. I bought one as an early adopter, and one in the early firesale, I'm on the waiting list for another one from HP SMB division so my family members have it. Everyone I demonstrate to says the same thing... Why did they kill it? And then: I want one.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

max_nelson 29th Aug

This is kind of in line with the last comment, but I think what this shows is just an influx of new tablet owners. Once a consumer gets any sort of new mobile device, activity is high in the beginning, as they are excited about their new gadget, and are spending a lot of time on it (similar to how iPads may see an increase in the days following Christmas). It will be interesting to see what activity is like in a few months after the initial rush dies down.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

maggiebrown2004 Updated - 29th Aug

so do I keep my hp touch pad or take it back? I have till 9:00 tonight to take it back for a full refund. HHHHEEELLLPPPP me please.

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Split the difference

Rabid Howler Monkey Updated - 29th Aug

@maggiebrown2004 Keep your TouchPad and get a partial refund for the amount that you paid above $99 or $149. More here:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/hp-touchpad-hp-and-best-buy-to-refund-price-differences-for-early-buyers/3857

Be sure to call the store first just to verify that they will indeed provide you with a partial refund.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Sahalu Updated - 29th Aug

HP's sin is misreading and interpreting the signal too soon. I would have given it 3 months and experiment with promos. Staples did at $299 and the demand was immediate and overwhelming, they told their stores to stop honoring the promo price. Office Depot, Office Max and others were also swamped by request to match the Staples price they wouldnt.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

awkward hug 29th Aug

HP executives who dismissed the touchpad too prematurely should be fired!

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

GAGendel 29th Aug

@awkward hug That's a bit simplistic, but the stockholders should be up in arms because of the stock devaluation. As I read recently... Turning HP into a software house is like telling GM that they should stop making cars and start making airplanes.

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It's wasn't premature! The problem was always the price.

adornoe@... 30th Aug

Any "bad" ideas can turn into good ideas at the proper price.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Jaytmoon 31st Aug

@awkward hug
Should be fired, But they'll likely get big bonus deals when exiting. LoL. Corporate environments stink!

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

kbagrows 29th Aug

I disagree that the novelty will wear off and revenue will soon plummet. In fact, if you track any of the "deal" website, there are a LOT of people still waiting for a Touchpad to ship from HP, and there are a lot of touchpads on ebay and craigslist. More and more people will keep activating new accounts - I would bet that its another month or two before companies see peak ad revenue. After that - who knows. But, with all the positive reviews I'm reading on the TP (in now small part thanks to tips like Kendrick's for speeding up the TP) I think a lot of people will continue to use. Thus whole situation is very interesting, can't wait to see how it plays out ...

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

waasoo 29th Aug

My guess is that the rush to get the HP Touchpad is probably fueled by people like me.. I would love to have a device that I can use for basic browsing, email and music at that form factor but I will never spend $299 or more for it. 3 years ago I bought my HP Laptop using a combinations of coupons for $550+tax with the latest processor,ram and hard disk at the time. I refuse to spend an equivalent amount on a crippled device like the tablet. At $149 the tablet is a worthy buy (I am not saying it costs $149 to make one..I agree that the manufacturer is suffering a loss at that price point).

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Loss Leading

ben.rattigan 30th Aug

This proves one thing, Android tablet makers need heavily discount their tablets to the point of making a loss to attract customers away from the iPad.

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Who said any of those who purchased this

James Quinn 30th Aug

@ben.rattigan .. would have bought an iPad? An Touchpad selling does not mean that Apple lost a sale. Might have been Samsung:)

Pagan jim

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The fact remains that, most who bought TouchPads will be out of the market

adornoe@... 30th Aug

for future purchases of iPads or Android tablets. Thus, potential future sales have been lost by Apple and Android tablet makers.

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Don't think so. Apple will never give the

James Quinn 30th Aug

@adornoe@... $99.00 dollar Tablet market a single thought. Maybe a few "jokes" around the board room but not an actual consideration mind you:P Yes the Android Tablet market like the Android phone market are likely to go through some version of the now famous "PC Price Wars" but I don't think anyone wants to jump that quickly into those murky waters and would be wise to put it off as much as possible. So I think the people who purchased these Touch pads were the tire kickers who often wait for such opportunities but can not be counted on by any name brand manufacturer to regularly purchase from them unless a truck flipped over and damaged goods are to be dumped onto the market as a result. It is likely they NEVER would have purchased from Apple at the very least.

Pagan jim

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

dhmccoy 30th Aug

WebOS is *not* a success. They are giving it away and people are taking it. People buy cheap stuff and its costing HP $100m. That's not a business. That's bankruptcy. Who wants to support an OS that has you giving away your money?

Two, if webOS is surpassing Android in ad revenue for tablets, then all this means is that Android for tablets stinks. Anyone objective is not going to be impressed or moved by these numbers.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

Rich Miles 30th Aug

@dhmccoy

"Two, if webOS is surpassing Android in ad revenue for tablets, then all this means is that Android for tablets stinks."

Bingo.

With no new hardware, this usage will slow to a trickle. The only thing that webOS has going for it is a passionate and vocal user base. It's a shame that HP couldn't capitalize on that.

Meanwhile, the competitors are sprinting ahead.

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That is exactly what I've been saying! Subsidize the damn things, and

adornoe@... 30th Aug

the costs can be recouped down-line, in advertising and other means. A price of $300 and below, depending upon features and OS, would be a good figure to get people to bite. Lose some in the front, but gain it during the products usage and lifetime.

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RE: HP TouchPad already catching Android tablets in ad revenue

nyle@... 31st Aug

HP you need to capitalize on the "loss" by re-releasing the HP Touchpad quickly with a minor hardware update. Call it the HP Touchpad 2 and just upgrade things that won't really cost more to add. Then sell this at below the other vendors high markups. In other words, sell it at a much smaller profit margin to keep building the WebOS market.

Once the market is built you can command higher profit margins off the hardware. Does anyone really know just the cost to manufacturer the existing HP Touchpad in volume - without R&D, etc.?