Has the $99 Touchpad hurt the non iPad market?

[Gregintosh]

Boom. Except the ending. Apple won't be "hurt" by this because they've got mindshare, marketshare and ecosystem. BUT, every knock-off tablet sold is the loss of a potential iPad customer because nobody needs two tablets. And its going to be tough for some to say "The iPad 4 is worth 6x more than that TouchPad I bought in 2011".

Sure, no one needs two tablets, but that doesn't mean that consumers will keep the touchpad until it dies either.

I am thinking people who got this right now will probably sell it or give it away and get an iPad 3 eventually. Unless they happen to fall in love with WebOS.

So basically it will delay some people's purchase of an iPad, but not forever.

Maybe the lesson learned is that Apps aren't everything. People act as if the lack of Apps = Useless, but in reality then a browser, PIM, and social networking is all most people need. So I think we've learned that there IS a $150-200 basic tablet market out there.

100% Agreed. For my wife for example, a tablet that can surf the web smoothly and watch videos on YouTube, maybe play a casual game or two like Angry Birds or Tetris is MORE THAN ENOUGH.

Maybe this will show the Tablet makers that instead of aiming for high end features or a multitude of features, that if they stick to the basics at a basic price they could make a splash.

 

[BergerFan]

IMO, the TouchPad is hurting ALL tablet markets.

1) Non Techies
Somehow the TouchPad became a very popular product among non-techies. And they're scooping them up along with the rest of us. The difference being that we know its a product with shortcomings but to them "its an iPad but cheaper".

2) iPads now seem "Expensive"
A lot of people I know never were in the market for a Tablet (iPad or anything) but bought this. To them then $100 is now how much a tablet should cost so while in the past $500 for an iPad seemed reasonable, to people who were potential customers then $500 now seems ridiculous.

3) Nobody needs Two Tablets
Every TouchPad sold is a potential "Other Brand" tablet sale lost. And since Tablets are considered more a novelty than a necessity then these people aren't going to be back in the Tablet Market anytime soon


So IMO then the TouchPad firesale is going to be a game changer because new considerations have to be made in terms of how these products are priced for the different tiers of customers out there. I really wonder if HP said "If we're going out then lets go out with a bang and disrupt the industry".

1) The firesale happened far too quickly for non-techies to even ask the "What is a TouchPad?" question, and they basically still don't know about the device, never mind the price slash.
I'm sure that the majority of those who bought a cut-price TouchPad, either were never going to get an iPad anyway, or have one already.

 

[fanboy05]

I would not have ever bought a non ipad, for the price of an ipad... but at 99 bucks I ordered a touchpad... and will give it to the kids so the can stop hogging our ipads!

 

[Syk]

Even non techies know what the Touchpad is to some extent. They may not know exactly what all it does but they recognize the HP name. Had to have seen the comericals they continously play and then there's the price.

Most non techies hang out on some type of forum or social network and this has been plastered on all different type of non techie forums. They see their friends, non techies or even iPad users rushing out to get one they figure heck $99 and it's HP I'll risk it. On those say forums you'll have someone post how to speed it up.

Sure it may not be getting too many more updates but it'll serve well as a web broswer,movies,music,email,calendar, contacts, note taking,ereader it's a steal.

Definitely if you have kids who like to play with your iPad

 

[aluren]

There's too many variables to determine the effects. I think by now a majority would know that there is something called a tablet and that iPad is the market leader. Those that end up buying a Touchpad had to know of some benefits they will get. So I'm going to assume that these are the same people that are in the market for a tablet, which will affect Apple's sales. Most technies already own a tablet, and the likeliness of them getting a second one is alot less than someone that doesn't own a tablet. So I think this firesale definitely hurt Apple more than it did on other tablets that's not an iPad. I've always thought that to eat at the iPad's price point, other tablet makers have to sell it at a loss and make up for it through other avenues, like advertising or apps, kinda like Sony losing money from game console sale but making up for it with software.

 

[MRU]

A little high on your horse, are you? Trust me way more people know about this than just "techy types". NOTE: Ever Growing SD Thread.

Do you honestly not know any non techies who are aware of this sale?

Yes because not all of us live that side of the Atlantic. My opinion is based from this side of the sea where HP's announcement of abandoning WebOS seems to have made no impact, no massive media announcements or fire-sales.

Those that do know of the fire-sale are reading the info on tech blogs & websites, and will be more than likely attempting to get one imported from the US rather than stump up the €500 for one here.

Even the main HP re-seller (HP's online store in Ireland just points to them) I contacted in Ireland didn't know about the fire-sale in the US or that HP had made an announcement to abandon WebOS & the touchpad.

So my post has to be seen in context from a trans-atlantic perspective - it was not meant to be arrogant or on my high horse. It's how it is in the other parts of the world where we are not bore witness to this sell off, or looking likely too.

So with that in mind, no - it doesn't make the iPad look cheap or damage other products - because there is almost no knowledge of this permeating - and there were very few places ever stocking it in the first place - and almost zero media coverage of the Touchpad to build up a ground swell of interest here.

Whilst my opinion may not be the same as the folks here or the of the same experience - it doesn't make it wrong. You have to look at the context from which it is coming. If you wanted singularly North American and Canadian experiences / thoughts - you should have said so.

 

[ajohnson253]

Speaking as someone who does marketing for a living and has a master's degree in it, I would say my assessment would be that this will make people think twice about prices of tablets.

The problem with consumer psychology is that a big sale makes people want to wait for the next one. Once people know "what's possible" by waiting they are less apt to buy something at full price unless they really need it (and let's face it, tablets are a total "nice to have" product and not a "must have" product). This is going to affect the iPad knock off market more than Apple, though.

As far as iPad sales, they will not be affected much because Apple is perceived as a premium brand and so a high price is expected (and in fact necessary to upkeep the premium image; if Apple were to drop iPads to $299 or $349 they may very well lose their premium image over time).

I think it will also make companies think twice about their pricing and positioning. Apple competitors now know how to compete with Apple on market share. Seeing HP sell hundreds of thousands of units in one weekend tells them that if they price their tablets much lower than the iPad they can get market share.

However, the key is that the tablets still need to be decent. The reason $99 or $149 tablets aren't selling now is because they are crap (to get to that price point their bill of materials must have been $75 or so).

The HP TouchPad is actually a much higher quality than those. Now a $99 price point is not sustainable for the Touchpad given its BOM being around $280-$300 or so, but a $299 or $349 price point would have helped a lot in generating sales.

I think tablets priced around $299 or $349 but with the same quality as the Xoom, TouchPad, Galaxy, etc. would sell better, plus they would be reviewed better.

The main reason HP's touchpad was not reviewed well is because as a $499 tablet it is just not as good as the iPad which is priced the same. However, if HP priced it at $299 or $349 from the get go, reviewers would have cut it a lot more slack and better reviews would have led to more sales.

I think a $299 price would actually be a sweet spot since $299 would be perceived psychologically as MUCH cheaper than $3XX.

So no, I don't think this has HURT the market, I think it EDUCATED the tablet market (both the consumer and manufacturer sides)

Veddy well said

 

[urkel]

Yes because not all of us live that side of the Atlantic. My opinion is based from this side of the sea where HP's announcement of abandoning WebOS seems to have made no impact, no massive media announcements or fire-sales.

Where there's smoke there's Firesale.

HP TouchPad UK price drop to £89 confirmed at Dixons

Maybe it will hit your neck of the woods and you can lose a weekend hunting these down too.

 

[Tarzanman]

"Non-tech" people don't know what a Touchpad is, but they certainly know what tablets are.

I came into work today and let a few of them know about the sale, told them that B&N might still have some and showed them the tablet.

All were tempted to go out and order one at that price (and two of them did).

What I got out of the experience was how effective Apple's marketing campaign is. They all knew what an iPad was, but had never heard of WebOS and didn't know that HP made a tablet

 

[MRU]

Where there's smoke there's Firesale.

HP TouchPad UK price drop to £89 confirmed at Dixons

Maybe it will hit your neck of the woods and you can lose a weekend hunting these down too.

Keeping my fingers crossed for that

Dixons store when you click through however claim to have no stock. bugger

 

[sumone]

So my post has to be seen in context from a trans-atlantic perspective - it was not meant to be arrogant or on my high horse. It's how it is in the other parts of the world where we are not bore witness to this sell off, or looking likely too.

Whilst my opinion may not be the same as the folks here or the of the same experience - it doesn't make it wrong. You have to look at the context from which it is coming. If you wanted singularly North American and Canadian experiences / thoughts - you should have said so.

If you were talking about your specific region YOU should have said so and not generalize by saying "non-techy" people don't know because that's wrong. It's a given that when discussing the firesale that the reference is based in North America since the firesale was only announced to be for...NORTH AMERICA! And i'm not trying to be mean but I don't agree with you saying "non-techy" people don't know because it's grossly inaccurate. I'm sure if the sale was issued over in your area there would be a lot of "non-techy" people lining up to buy one.

 

[urkel]

Keeping my fingers crossed for that

Dixons store when you click through however claim to have no stock. bugger

The article said later today so maybe they didn't put them out yet. OR you're getting the "American" experience and are following links only to have them out of stock (or worse) in stock where they charge you and then realize they can't fill the order and you have to wait 40min on hold to get them to refund you.

seriously though, im an apple fan but I'm also a technology fan. This month i got a new Air 11", Mac Mini 2010, a Air 2010 for the wife and yet another apple tv. So it's kinda fun to get a non apple toy for once.

 

[MRU]

The article said later today so maybe they didn't put them out yet. OR you're getting the "American" experience and are following links only to have them out of stock (or worse) in stock where they charge you and then realize they can't fill the order and you have to wait 40min on hold to get them to refund you.

Seems like UK online store are for collection only at your local store, though I tried a number of stores using different UK post codes but without success.

Re: Irish stores have no update as yet but - but the official reseller has finally put up a message

"HP TOUCHPAD T 16GB WIFI (Back in Stock 23/08/2011 - Details of price drops for UK/Ireland to be decided by HP by end of day)"

So I'm refreshing the page like mad. Last time I checked they had over 1032 32GB model in stock.

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If you were talking about your specific region YOU should have said so and not generalize by saying "non-techy" people don't know because that's wrong.

In my experience it's very representative of the folks I know and the experience here. Just because it's not the same as your's doesn't make it wrong.

 

[sumone]

In my experience it's very representative of the folks I know and the experience here. Just because it's not the same as your's doesn't make it wrong.

Oh, I get it now so since most people where i'm from use Android smartphones then iPhones must not be popular. I see you're not going to admit your comment was inaccurate so i'm just going to let this go.

 

[clibinarius]

Let's just put it this way, it's going to affect the sales of non-iPads far more than it will affect iPads. The people buying these fire sale Touchpads are geeks, they're not mainstream customers.

WRONG.

I bought me one, though I'm a geek. I bought my sister one when I said they existed, she is not a geek, just wants a small computer that's cheap for the road. I bought one for a friend who scans a lot of documents to read on the road. I bought one for a geek who wants one just to have one. I bought one for my computer illiterate parents.

None of these people-including me-would spring for the current iPad. The TouchPad isn't nearly as bad as the Apple fans make it out to be (competing tablets aren't bad, just they're having marketing problems). This I think will be the first shot that there's more to life than Apple in tablet space.

 

[MRU]

WRONG.

I bought me one, though I'm a geek. I bought my sister one when I said they existed, she is not a geek, just wants a small computer that's cheap for the road. I bought one for a friend who scans a lot of documents to read on the road. I bought one for a geek who wants one just to have one. I bought one for my computer illiterate parents.

None of these people-including me-would spring for the current iPad. The TouchPad isn't nearly as bad as the Apple fans make it out to be (competing tablets aren't bad, just they're having marketing problems). This I think will be the first shot that there's more to life than Apple in tablet space.

The point is YOU bought them.. They didn't. Did they even know it existed before you told them?

As for being the first shot that there's more to life - when it is in fact the last siren song of a product that sadly for many reasons - prematurely but ultimately 'failed'.

 

[Savor]

Interesting read -

http://www.macvideo.tv/distribution/news/index.cfm?newsId=3298493&pagType=samechandate

Apple 'owns' tablet supply chain, others can't compete
Apple has exclusive rights to the best technology when building the iPad

Apple is making it impossible for other tablet manufacturers to do business because it has exclusive rights to the latest and greatest technology breakthroughs. As a result, HP wasn't able to compete with Apple in the tablet market, according to a report.

Apple is accused of blocking other manufacturers from sourcing the best parts for their devices. A source "with knowledge of the matter" informed The Next Web that Apple's iPad hardware was better than the HP TouchPad's hardware because: "Apple has put a ton of work into building a supply chain and technological prowess that is second to none. This has made competing with it an incredibly difficult proposition."

For example, HP was unable to get a display for its TouchPad that was as good as Apple's iPad display, claims the report.

Apple has exclusive deals with hardware manufacturers because it has invested in these companies and the manufacturing processes. "It's a very real roadblock to other companies looking to source the most bleeding edge technology. Apple has almost unlimited access to it for months before it becomes available to others... denying them access to the tech that they need in order to make their products competitive."