Best Buy Seeing HP TouchPad Sell-Through Rate of Under 10%

[darkplanets]

It's tough to crack a new market you show up late to. It's even tougher if you're the underdog. It's even tougher if your hardware and software teams cant resolve certain issues, such as speed and responsiveness.

It's not looking good for HP's first run into the foray with WebOS, but at the same time, it's not unexpected. Perhaps their second iteration will be more appropriate, else they'll have to go the Android route, which isn't bad per-se, but makes the Palm acquisition a waste of cash.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Thankfully, theres a to-do list for that...

To Do List

1. Apple needs an LCD/E-ink dual screen for future ipads
2. apple needs to release a cheaper ipad (299.99-329.99) about the size of a BN nook color
3. amass an e-book collection comparable to amazon... or flat out buy amazon.com
4. gain textbook support of all major publishers
5. competitors die off

Apple can do whatever they want. They do not have to bow to consumer interests. We want all competitors to die a humiliating death for even attempting to compete with Apple. If they were smart, they'd just liquidate now.

 

[Tiger8]

I was at BestBuy today and I saw one on display and decided to play with it. It looks like a GIGANTIC iPhone 3G! The interface looked need, but after opening three windows at the same time, the limits of 'true' multi-tasking started to show.

A couple of minutes later I put it down, never came back to it. Even the Samsung Galaxy is a better experience

 

[VitaminD]

It's tough to crack a new market you show up late to. It's even tougher if you're the underdog. It's even tougher if your hardware and software teams cant resolve certain issues, such as speed and responsiveness.

It's not looking good for HP's first run into the foray with WebOS, but at the same time, it's not unexpected. Perhaps their second iteration will be more appropriate, else they'll have to go the Android route, which isn't bad per-se, but makes the Palm acquisition a waste of cash.

I can't see HP's purchase of Palm ultimately amounting to other than a waste of cash.

 

[BuffyzDead]

The REAL REASONS, Android even EXISTS !!!!

And they have amazing hardware. It's really boiling down to a Windows/Apple thing now though. There are tons of handsets out that run 2.3 (Gingerbread) that have dual core chips in them, letting you output HD to HDTVs... anything you want. The software is very open.

From somebody who isn't a "nerd" and doesn't tinker with Android, you're (not you, just whoever) going to miss out on all of the amazing things you can do with it.

But yea, those reasons you listed were the main reasons why it got adopted so well. Now that it's the leading OS, companies are starting to stand behind it and release good hardware for it (Galaxy S 2, the Nexus 1 (first Snapdragon phone ever), The Sensation, The Evo; it's just going to get better.

I WILL FOREVER KNOW, that the ONLY reason HTC, Motorola, Samsung and other iPhone Copy-Cats, even have a modern Smartphone/Computer on your Cellphone product, is:

BECAUSE ERIC SCHMIDT sat on the Apple Board when, in BOARD ROOM CONFIDENCE, plans for the iPhone release of 2007, were discussed.

That DICK ran back to Google and told Larry Page and Sergey Brin
that Google needed to get into the Android OS development business because this Apple INVENTION (Yes, the EXACT iPhone Invention), was going to be HUGE !!!!!!

If Eric Schmidt did not sit in, on those PRIVATE board meetings, the 5 year head start Apple had, would have been more like an 8 or 9 year head start.

FACT !!!!

 

[CFreymarc]

If they are looking at per unit margins this low, you can be sure there is a "volume distribution bonus" when a specific quantity of units makes it out the front doors. There are a lot of ways for retailers to get profit from reselling and not just margin per unit sold. In may cases, these "extended warranties" are the highest profit items sold over the unit itself.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Link?

 

[CFreymarc]

I WILL FOREVER KNOW, that the ONLY reason HTC, Motorola, Samsung and other iPhone Copy-Cats, even have a modern Smartphone/Computer on your Cellphone product, is:

BECAUSE ERIC SCHMIDT sat on the Apple Board when, in BOARD ROOM CONFIDENCE, plans for the iPhone release of 2007, were discussed.

That DICK ran back to Google and told Larry Page and Sergey Brin
that Google needed to get into the Android OS development business because this Apple INVENTION (Yes, the EXACT iPhone Invention), was going to be HUGE !!!!!!

If Eric Schmidt did not sit in, on those PRIVATE board meetings, the 5 year head start Apple had, would have been more like an 8 or 9 year head start.

FACT !!!!

True but Google had a big "not invented here" mindset. IMO, the last few years kicked them in the ass enough to where they are more mature and open to outside originations.

 

[brianfast]

I WILL FOREVER KNOW, that the ONLY reason HTC, Motorola, Samsung and other iPhone Copy-Cats, even have a modern Smartphone/Computer on your Cellphone product, is:

BECAUSE ERIC SCHMIDT sat on the Apple Board when, in BOARD ROOM CONFIDENCE, plans for the iPhone release of 2007, were discussed.

That DICK ran back to Google and told Larry Page and Sergey Brin
that Google needed to get into the Android OS development business because this Apple INVENTION (Yes, the EXACT iPhone Invention), was going to be HUGE !!!!!!

If Eric Schmidt did not sit in, on those PRIVATE board meetings, the 5 year head start Apple had, would have been more like an 8 or 9 year head start.

FACT !!!!

Google bought Android in 2005...

 

[SandynJosh]

I believe that Android has had a great effect on iOS, now that Apple's seen that it's spreading like a disease, and iOS5 is clearly proof of Apple innovating to keep Android at bay.

I believe you have that backwards. Apple did huge advances to the iOS within the first year of it coming to market...that was before Android was even out. Apple has a long term strategy to continually raise the bar. Apple is not reactive to Android but is playing their own tune and setting the pace of the race.

While Android is, per sec., the largest phone OS, it isn't such a giant if you consider all the flavors individually. Nor is it a monolith when you look at all the screen sizes and aspect ratios. Android is a very mixed bag that is too often lumped together as a single OS.

I had to smile when I read your analogy of Android spreading like a disease, one of these days that open OS will get a virus that will spread like a disease. No one is guarding the gate (a la the Apple app store) and Android OS is lacking a central kill switch, so once something gets loose, it will stay in the wild.

 

[callme]

point still stands. Given their number of stores, it seems a bit sketchy that they ordered enough to sell 150 per store...

----------



Could always revert back to the MOSR days...ewww

A 150 devices per store is nothing, Apple sell that many iPads in an hour in some stores.

How long was the stock of 150 per store supposed to last, it may have been a months supply, so they only have to sell 5 a day at each store to use up the stock, hardly 'huge' numbers.

 

[Burger Thing]

Hopefully HP and Samsung will just go away and only Apple will remain.

I sincerely hope that the one who goes away is you. Your contributions here are nothing more than stupid trolling remarks and make this forum unbearable at times. Utterly laughable that people like you constantly make fun of fanboys but you on the other hand are not better in this regard.

Pathetic!

And I say this as an Android user.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I sincerely hope that the one who goes away is you. Your contributions here are nothing more than stupid trolling remarks and make this forum unbearable at times. Utterly laughable that people like you constantly make fun of fanboys but you on the other hand are not better in this regard.

Pathetic!

And I say this as an Android user.

That wasn't very nice. I'm just trying to fit in here. I make fun of Apple, you guys get mad. I agree with Apple, you guys get mad. People are too picky here. I thought everyone would be happy that the Touchpad is a failure like the Xoom. I thought the whole idea here was to want Apple to rule the tech world and everyone to use only Apple products. I wish you'd make up your mind. Did it ever enter your mind that I own Apple products but I'm not a blind loyalist? Maybe I can actually use a product and not need to pretend that it's perfect?

If my remarks are trolling, then what do you think of the people who post in all of these thread that really do want to see HP, Moto, Microsoft, etc fail because they live on every word that comes out of Uncle Steve's mouth?

 

[cvaldes]

First of all, why are you trying to fit in? This place is largely overrun by teenage boys who have probably never traveled outside of their birth state. Do you really want to count yourself amongst their number?

Secondly, the experienced folks here agree that the industry in general benefits from strong competition. Seeing RIM/HP/whoever launch some turd tablet to compete with the iPad doesn't really drive innovations nor features.

 

[AppleScruff1]

First of all, why are you trying to fit in? This place is largely overrun by teenage boys who have probably never traveled outside of their birth state.

Well, I'm not a teenage boy and I have traveled. And I do make serious posts when discussing topics with the normal users.

 

[Burger Thing]

That wasn't very nice. I'm just trying to fit in here. I make fun of Apple, you guys get mad. I agree with Apple, you guys get mad. People are too picky here. I thought everyone would be happy that the Touchpad is a failure like the Xoom. I thought the whole idea here was to want Apple to rule the tech world and everyone to use only Apple products. I wish you'd make up your mind. Did it ever enter your mind that I own Apple products but I'm not a blind loyalist? Maybe I can actually use a product and not need to pretend that it's perfect?

If my remarks are trolling, then what do you think of the people who post in all of these thread that really do want to see HP, Moto, Microsoft, etc fail because they live on every word that comes out of Uncle Steve's mouth?

Well, it is a forum for Mac enthusiasts, so I expect a certain number of loyalists or fanboys here. What I don't understand is people like you pretending to be so much better (in the sense of having a more balanced view, or *not have to pretend that Apple products are perfect*) but in the end you are on the same level. Just on the opposite site of the fence but equally annoying.

Give it a rest! Just look at your remarks. They are mostly pointless.

I use Apple and of course other products as well. And like me, I assume, others are well aware that no product is perfect. Newsflash for you: there are people who own multiple devices running OSX, Windows, Android, iOS and don't feel: - the urge to proof anything (one way or the other) - or trying to fit in.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Well, it is a forum for Mac enthusiasts, so I expect a certain number of loyalists or fanboys here. What I don't understand is people like you pretending to be so much better (in the sense of having a more balanced view, or *not have to pretend that Apple products are perfect*) but in the end you are on the same level. Just on the opposite site of the fence but equally annoying.

Give it a rest! Just look at your remarks. They are mostly pointless.

I use Apple and of course other products as well. And like me, I assume, others are well aware that no product is perfect. Newsflash for you: there are people who own multiple devices running OSX, Windows, Android, iOS and don't feel the urge to proof anything. One way or the other.

The people I know IRL own many different devices and OS's and they don't feel the urge to prove anything. My comments here are usually directed at those who do have something to prove. Loyalists are one thing, fanatics are another.

 

[Burger Thing]

The people I know IRL own many different devices and OS's and they don't feel the urge to prove anything. My comments here are usually directed at those who do have something to prove. Loyalists are one thing, fanatics are another.

Well, sorry to say this, but you come across as equally fanatic. Just with a different spin. Seems like you have to prove something after all.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Well, sorry to say this, but you come across as equally fanatic. Just with a different spin. Seems like you have to prove something after all.

I have nothing to prove, but perhaps you are right about the way I come across at time. I know those who criticize my posts never mention my posts in topics in the other forums here where I am serious. To me, this news section is like the off topic section that most forums have. Half of the articles that are posted are flame bait. I just roll with it and I never personally insult a specific user.

 

[peterdevries]

Google bought Android in 2005...

Yep, and the first time Apple internally discussed the iPhone as a viable new product was two weeks before the keynote.. :roll eyes:

Before the introduction of the iPhone you can bet that they had been working for years on the product. Giving Google ample time with their knowledge to start their own product.

 

[KnightWRX]

Yep, and the first time Apple internally discussed the iPhone as a viable new product was two weeks before the keynote.. :roll eyes:

Before the introduction of the iPhone you can bet that they had been working for years on the product. Giving Google ample time with their knowledge to start their own product.

Hum... Eric Schmidt joined Apple's board August 29th, 2006...

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/200...-Schmidt-Joins-Apples-Board-of-Directors.html

Google bought Android in August 2005, a full year before :

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050817_0949_tc024.htm

So roll your eyes all you want, you have no point here. Google was into the mobile business before Eric was on the board. It was even understood that Eric would not be privy to details about the tablet/phone project that was on-going.

And yes, before some says it, this was an Android prototype before the iPhone rolleyes :

Ok ? Out of your system now ? Feeling happy pappy ? The iPhone changed Android right ? Wrong. This is Android today :

Android is a software platform guys, not a hardware platform. The iPhone's form factor did not change Android at all. Android can be adapted and used on many form factor phones, including blackberry style and yep, even iPhone style phones. This has nothing to do with Eric being on Apple's board. In fact, the first 2008 Android model to ship, the T-mobile G1/HTC Dream didn't look like an iPhone at all :

So let's drop the pretense that Google is in this business because of Apple or Eric being on Apple's board. That's just pure paranoid delusions.

 

[Kelmon]

This is a considerable shame because I think Apple needs the competition and I was really hoping that the TouchPad would deliver it. I would not touch an Android tablet with a 10' pole for the simple reason that I just think the whole concept is a mess and I don't trust Google. Given this the WebOS TouchPad presented the only other platform that I thought stood a chance and it looks as though they've blown their chances by, as usual, launching an unfinished device. I'll be buying a tablet in October so I suppose HP has until then to get the problems sorted out but I'm not confident this is going to happen and therefore I'd now be very surprised if I get anything other than an iPad 2.

Still, matters could be worse - the TouchPad could have been another PlayBook...

 

[phillytim]

There should be no gloating here, remember: healthy competition sparks innovation and keeps prices lower.

Having viable choices are a great thing. I have an iPhone & iPod Touch for years, yet I'd buy a nice competing tablet in a heartbeat. The HP WebOS stuff certainly intrigues me and the Android stuff certainly has made inroads.

I almost walked out of Best Buy the other day with my new MacBook Pro AND a Toshiba Thrive Android tablet to get some hands-on experience with another major platform. But for right now, it's all about the Mac for me!

 

[SactoGuy18]

In the end, the very fact that Apple has that GIGANTIC iOS ecosystem and the fact that if you know how to run an iPhone you can run the iPad is why Apple continues to totally dominate the market for tablet computers.

I use an iPad 2 myself and frankly, even the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is nowhere as "polished" as the iPad when it comes to the user experience.

 

[LarryB08]

Still, matters could be worse - the TouchPad could have been another PlayBook...

Actually, the Playbook is an amazing tablet. Granted it is hurt due to lack of app development and a truly boneheaded decision to NOT release a native email app from the start (supposedly this is coming late Summer / early Fall).

Anyone who simply goes by the stories they read and have not actually used the Playbook are missing out on one of the most fluid tablet experiences, even, dare I say it, smoother than the iPad. In addition, for those who don't need the large screen, the 7" form factor with the same resolution as most 10" tablets makes the screen one of the best looking of any tablet I have yet seen and I have worked with a good many of the current crop.

And while perhaps a bit on the heavy side for a 7" tablet, there is an overall feel and polish to the device that rivals and often exceeeds that of other devices. In my mind, relative to the post I quoted, HP's offering can't hold a candle to the Playbook.

But with bad press, limited apps (not even angry birds....yet ) and some first generation issues to be ironed out, there is no rush to explore the device by the masses and that is truly a shame. I for one am happy to own one and, compared with some other non-apple companies discussed here, RIM has come out with updates on a fairly nice clip. To me, the future with this device can be promising, even as a certain niche product, if the bottom line thinking these days can be somewhat held in check and a way can be found to get people familiarized with its true virtues.