Amazon and Costco kick off HP TouchPad price war 65
Mon, 18 Jul 2011 2:38 pm EDT 
Yesterday was supposed to be the “hard launch” date for the HP TouchPad, with all sorts of advertising and training and other supposedly awesome things set to happen. While things seem to still be winding up, the retail side of things is definitely heating up. With the ad embargo date of July 17 past us, retailers Amazon.com and Costco have taken to cutting into the price tag of the TouchPad, with Amazon hacking $10 from the $499.99 price tag of the 16GB tablet, and $40 from the $599.99 32GB tablet. Costco, meanwhile, has chopped $10 from the 16GB and $20 from the 32GB, though the do appear to be throwing in a generic neoprene sleeve with the higher capacity version. Either way, the prices at both retailers are below HP’s permitted advertising price, which requires that you add the tablet to your cart to see the price.
It’s too early in the game to call this price cutting a sign of poor sales. Instead, what we’re seeing is retailers like Amazon and Costco doing what they always do: undercutting the competition on price in order to secure more sales at the expense of a few dollars profit. It’s a business model that’s worked well for them up to this point, so why stop doing it with the TouchPad?
65 Comments
actually, amazon has it for $559 now with free shipping. i bought mine from costco thinking they'll extend the warranty to 2 years. but i'm hearing different now so imight return it and get one from amazon instead. with the pre- discount, that's $509 for a 32gb TP. i don't know if it will ever hit that price without the pre- discount so i'll have to make the decision before end of july (just in case HP doesn't extend the offer).
although the price of the 32gb is going down, the price of the 16gb hasn't budged from $489. not sure why, probably a combination of the marging getting too small and not having too many in stock.
dude just wait another month they will come down to the $399 and $449
"It’s too early in the game to call this price cutting a sign of poor sales.It’s too early in the game to call this price cutting a sign of poor sales."
Did they do the same thing with the iPad? If they didn't then most likely they are cutting prices for lack of sales. Also they most likely have a higher margin on the TouchPad than they do for the iPad so they can get away with a little price slashing.
Of course there is also the likely case that Apple forbids retailers from cutting the price of their products, keeping their value artificially high.
i'd go with your last comment. apple keeps that price tightly controlled. you can do that when you feel like what you're offering is unique enought that there's really no competition. i don't think that's really in their business model...probably the reason why steve jobs put an end to mac clones back in the day (essentially putting apple in a position where they would have to compete in a price war).
HP on the other hand is coming from a place where they're consistently trying to compete not only in features but also prices. so i'm gonna assume that they give their resellers a longer leash when it comes to pricing.
I am still very happy to be an early adopter, even with the bugs and lack of apps in some areas. I got some money back out of it with HP's Touch Inspiration rebate and Best Buy's price drop so I'm happy. Besides, I have used my TouchPad at work on a daily basis since July 1st and have loved most of the experience. I have also used it in two very successful TouchPad demonstrations and (1) presentation to a potential client of mine. That being said, I had a third TP demo where the lack of an internet connection made for one short demo! LOL!
I hope the cut the prices regularly and do whatever ever they need to to move them.
Given the short product cycles and the need for HP to go through a few extra iterations to catch up to the competition - make a limited amount, sell them hard and roll out the next version.
The idea of them having produced 10 million of these and planning on being to see the same model for over the next 18 months is frightening.
C
Hopefully, that figure is exaggerated, and they're prepared to EOL this model by Spring.
Maybe not EOL it, just make it the "Bargain" model. Just like iPad 1 is still available.
HP sells items for list price and then gives its distribution partners discounts off that list price. The distributor is then free to set whatever end-user price he wants. Comparison with Apple isn't meaningful, and yes, the iPad 2 outsells everything else.
In addition, Apple forbids most retailers (Costco and BJs are diff cause they are membership clubs) from going below a price. However, HP gives their partners lots of flexibility.
Reason is Apple wants to keep it as a status symbol. HP uses the other method cause it's what they do and know. Not to mention it gives the retailers options. Which they like.
Not on Amazon (iPad 2 does NOT outsell everything else there), actually. You should check out Amazon's "Bestsellers" tab on the Tablets page. Updated several times a day, and if you watch it over days and weeks, you can understand what's selling to end users/customers and what isn't.
Neither TouchPad model has cracked the top 10 since "soft" launch weekend - July 1.
Essentially, everything aside from the Playbook (DOA) and maybe the Acer Iconia Tab is outselling it day after day after day.
I just saw 32GB version crack the top 10 (at #9) in Tablets on Amazon. The 16GB version is at #29.
True. It's at #10 right now. So...that's progress, right?
LOL...for some...maybe.
Top Ten Plus!!!
more reason the pre 3 is not coming to sprint.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/its-official-motorola-titanium-coming...
also, was there any noticeable difference in marketing starting on the 17th for the touchpad?
Way to talk about the Pre3 in a TouchPad pricing story. What a loser.
"It’s too early in the game to call this price cutting a sign of poor sales."
how is it too early to tell? the price has been cut by a little bit each week, i would take that as a sign that they aren't selling too many of them.
it looks like a classic case of supply and demand to me.
They're probably not cutting the price because they're selling strongly. I sense the retailers are trying to avoid a losing game of hot potato. Nobody wants to be the guy with TP in deep stock when something better comes out. If they're hard to sell today, they're gonna be a lot harder to sell in two weeks. Life moves fast, don't trip over HP.
Too bad this isn't really stoking demand.
Even after yesterday's "official" launch (yeahhhhh, right), the Touchpad remains firmly locked just outside of the top 10 bestselling tablets @ Amazon, where the base models of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and original 7-inch, Toshiba Thrive, iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, and Asus Tranformer all routinely outsell both models of the Touchpad. It's the best indicator of real-time retail sales data accessible to the public as it is updated several times a day.
Sadly, even Asus' $1300 Win 7 slate is outselling both Touchpad models.
I don't think you can compare sells figures yet. Nobody knows about the TP yet -- so why would it sell more than the competitor tablets yet? Outside of the webOS fan sites, I've not seen or heard anything regarding TouchPad.
Well, aside from:
- Russell Brand commercials airing on ABC Family, Discovery, and svereal other major cable networks
- HP paying for Twitter placement
- HP paying to be "featured" starting yesterday on Amazon, best Buy, and several other websites' tablet landing pages
- HP paying for set apart demo tables in Best Buys and in some Wal-Marts
- HP paying for prominent placement in this week's Sunday circulars across a variety of retailers
- QVC doing an extensive on-air demo of the TouchPad with an EasyPay bundle deal along with hawking their WebOS app
- Reviews in almost every major daily newspaper and in every tech publication
- Front page placement on HP.com shipping portal
- Increased print buys
....aside from all of that, HP has done little to let people know the TouchPad exists, so why SHOULD it be outselling competitors?
I've caught one Russell Brand commercial and I'm actively looking for them. The ABC Family and Discover audience is not Fox or anything like that.
The Twitter placement wasn't an advertisement that most people could understand. It was just for branding the tagline, not designed to directly sell tablets or even pitch the product.
We can hardly determine the effect on sales of HP paying to be featured *yesterday* on Amazon, Best Buy, etc.
The demo table that I saw in my local Best Buy had no HP branding on it, while the Android and iPad tables did. You also had to walk by both the Android and iPad tables to get the Touchpad one... and without the branding on it, I thought it looked like yet another Android tablet.
Again, it's hard to just sales of Sunday's circulars when it's Monday.
I could go on, but the point is that competitors have been doing a lot more for a lot longer. HP's advertisements are going to take a year or two to even approach where iPod/iPhone/iPad and Android/Droid/Evo etc. brands are. We can't expect something less than a month to compete.
Afraid your point has a few gaping holes.
The Galaxy Tab 10.1 shot to the top of said list IMMEDIATELY vaulting past "competitors that had been doing a lot more for a lot longer" such as the Motorola Xoom and the iPad 2. Samsung spent much less than HP on advertising, and have an inferior presence at brick and mortar retail. Same goes for their comparative presence on Facebook and Twitter.
And any attempt to try and write this off in the wake of HP only "officially" launching yesterday is laughable. Amazon's stats are compiled REAL TIME, meaning that any significant shifts would be seen late yesterday or today. The fact is, HP hasn't moved that needle yet. Not yesterday. Not a week ago. Not since launch DAY really.
Samsung did it with the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Toshiba did it with the Thrive.
Motorola's even doing it with the Wi-Fi Xoom, once they dropped the price.
HP has no excuse.
don't forget the ESPY awards, they were all over that
There are no WebOS champions out there, buying the device and showing it off to friends. HP's action plan has alienated it's users. They're starting with less than zero, because there are more people out there saying HP f'd me over, than saying HP makes great complete products, here, see how mine is better!
Went to BB the day after they released Touchpad. Walked the store twice and on the third pass, found a TP sitting in the middle of four netbooks, no placard, no price, no details, just sitting there in demo mode. Asked the sales guy, he thought it was a droid and related that they're not selling "that tablet" because his manager said "It's not done". All the other tablets had feature spots on endcaps or their own stand up display, or a place at the wireless section on the tablet table.
Went to Walmart three weeks in a row. No sign of it. Asked the electronics manager where was the touchpad yesterday, he took me to the Xoom, next to the Playbook. I told him this was to be an HP product. He said for tablets, there is the Ipad, the Playbook, or the Android, they dont carry off-brands in the store, try the website. "End of story".
Saw the Touchpad yesterday at Office Max. It was dead. Sales guy came up to see if he could answer any tablet questions. He advised the TP ran in demo mode for an hour, then went dead and nobody knew why. He asked if I wanted to buy one, he's get one out of stock to play with. I lamented HP's motto is "Everybody On", he laughed walked over to help someone at the Galaxy display.
How long will "scale" allow this to last?
It's interesting that people still think the Pre failed because Verizon didn't push it rather than looking at all the Pre lacked (and continues to lack).
If the TouchPad fails, the same thing will be said. It won't be about how much the TouchPad lacks, it will be all about how Best Buy didn't push it.
Pre failed on many levels, in many disciplines. VZ didn't need Palm except to placate their Treo users. Users and developers found the droid program worked and was growing.
Touchpad has many of the Pre's flaws, except this time HP has already s**t the bed with users and developers. They've whittled themselves down to a cult following, and even there, they're still chasing people away.
Noticed that Newegg also has discounts of $10 and $27.34 respectively. Also some adverts on the Newegg site, especially when you go to the "tablets" section.
Amazon wins by default IMO for having no Sales Tax, for now atleast.
Hey folks, if the TouchPad is such a terrible product that nobody wants to buy it, there's really no need to spend time writing negative comments about it. As far as HP's marketing goes, TouchPad was advertised before Harry Potter in hundreds of theaters (a movie that had a half billion dollar box office weekend). I've seen no fewer than 4 TV commercials today without changing channels. That's definitely more than last week.
On the flip side, if the product is so great that it's worthy of TWO launches, positive comments are equally superfluous. N'est pas?
sick burn
Folks, this is all irrelevant. The for really real launch will be at the end of the month when there are software updates, promised launch apps which are just placeholders for now, perhaps something to touch and share a website link with, and a spate of more broken promises.
anybody know if the 16GB is available in Costco stores?
Okay, I know that I will be downvoted to Hades by the fanbois for this, but in all seriousness...
No netflix, no hbogo/maxgo, no hulu plus, no MLB tv...NO DEAL.
While I love WebOS, I will be getting an Android tablet. DRM-protected content usually means that Flash support alone won't be enough...and these vendors are only goi9ng to bite the bullet and build (AND support) apps if the installed base is large enough to matter...and the TouchPad is a long way from making that sort of impact. Heck, even Android, with its 550,000 activations PER DAY is having a hard time getting support from such vendors.
Only WebOS fans can turn a release date into moving goalposts...
#failuretolaunch
the real launch is "in the coming months"
Yesterday I visited 2 Sam's Club stores in here in Puerto Rico and although, Puerto Rico is a 4 million market, people here buy like there's no tomorrow. So I walk to each store and this happens. Store one, there's the pallet with a bunch of Touchpads Tabs and a floor model, unplugged. As I was trying to find a way to get power to it, two employees came up to me and said it was damaged! In the second store, there was no floor model.. and they were placed in the darkest, most boring corner of the store. The iPad however, had it's own crew of 2 Sam's Club employees, their own spotlights and their own hip/hop - pop music going on. I bet they sold plenty. Check the pic for the unplugged plug. From Instant Upload
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/A2XRO8HNp9i0T2m0FDdqlg?feat=direct...
i went to best buy in caguas and their demo model wasnt working. The charger wasnt working. All other tablets were fully operational. It was like sabotage.... I asked an employee and he told me "stay away from it buy any other tablet but this hp" i was like damn....they dont want to sell it.... I even tried to fix the charger myself but it wasnt fixable....
Other than that i quite didnt like the feel of it in my hand and ended up with a galaxy tab 10.1 which is not bad at all... Hopefully hp will get it right on the touchpad 2
The TP is actually not just a soft launch but a soft model. That is, they weren't planning on making much of a splash with the first iteration. The real TP is the 2nd generation one so stay tuned!
According to HP, it isn't a sprint - it's a marathon. So, they are giving themselves plenty of time to release more competitive tablets than the one you just spent your hard-earned money on.
nothing HP will be a "Sprint" :/
Of course you are correct...so they are trying...but...
Stop ten people on the street in Antown, USA and ask them about the Touchpad. You'd be lucky if 1 knew what it was. Probably 8 or 9 of them would know what an iPad is...and most of those would state that they want one (if they don't already own one). Perhaps 2 or 3 might have heard of alternative Android tablets.
A list various advertising campaigns that are lost in the noise of the constant onslaught of IPad-ness in the world doesn't change the situation.
They need a campaign that does more than show sliding cards. They need to say we have Netflix, HBOGo, MaxGo, MLBtv, HuluPlus, *and* Flash...bringing you the full web. Unfortunately, they can't say that...so whatever advertising they are doing is doing little to shift demand from the iPad.
Anyone else notice Best Buy no longer shows the discount online? Is it still discounted in the stores?
I got mine on Friday at Staples. They had $50 off any tablet.
No, no, no...HP apologists...negative posts are not from trolls but really from WebOs fans, it's just the fans are like the women a physical relationship, HP being the man is in total control and the fans want them to give them what they desire, HP has the power to satisfy them, it's just HP's not doing it right, so some of them are cheating with Apple and Google or divorcing HP so they can attempt to get what they want, while the rest of the fans continue to lie to themeselves that things will get better and are stuck in a meaningless marriage to HP, while convincing all of their friends that they are truely happy.
You get downranked for seriously comparing domestic abuse to internet fanboys.
actually that's an interesting analogy and probably sums up the pyschology nicely.
I'm not sure where anifan gets the "domestic abuse" from though.
You're right. I'm a WebOS fan and I find myself complaining a lot lately because I want a new webos phone with at least a 3.5" screen... but I don't have one.
I want the touchpad, but why the **** would I pay the same price for it when the ipad2 is pretty much better in every aspect (expect synergy and multitasking)?
I love WebOS, but I hate what HP is doing with it.
At least if HP announces, "It will be out on carriers A,B,C by m/d/2011 for $X amount". They would stop many many people from saying **** this i can't wait anymore, i'm jumping to the EVO 3D"
They fail to communicate to their fans. All we keep hearing is "Coming soon"
You suck HP
I'm just saying there seems to be some glee in people who come to these forums to tell people how much HP sucks. What's the point?
The TouchPad isn't a perfect tablet but it's nice and useful for me. I'm willing to believe in the enhancements HP has promised and I'm getting tired of wisecracking people telling me that what I want for myself isn't good for me. They have no right to choose for me.
I just don't get why people are so invested in portraying it in a negative light. Everything HP does is bad, everything Apple, Google and Samsung do is perfect, etc, etc, I'm just sick of it. Ive chosen the device I like for me and I can say good things about it without saying bad things about other products.
There's no glee in observing simple reality.
The title of this article concerns the Amazon and Costco pricing ostensibly spurring sales. I posted - rather dispassionately, I might add - that Amazon clearly has regularly updated and easily accessible evidence that TouchPad sales are below par and no "spurring" has happened as a result of either price cuts or the "official" relaunch or whatever they are calling it this week. I'm not "portraying it in a negative light". I'm simply making a observation relevant to the article. I'm not slagging the TouchPad itself. I don't own one. Not going to. Don't see any need to convince anyone to agree with that decision.
YOU, on the other hand, have made 3 posts here - TWO of which have nothing to do with the article, but instead are taking potshots at commenters who are "too negative". What's the point of that? What's "positive" about harassing people who want to discuss Derek and Tim's hard work and generate page views on the front page of the site?
its' called rubbernecking. When their is a bad car accident other drivers slow down and think "i'm glad i'm not that driver"
when apple/google/samsung start taking a dive maybe you can experience that, but I don't think that will happen #inthecomingyears
I hope this is because of poor sales and I hope the poor sales continue until the prices on the tablets are dropped by $100-$150.
This should be a wake up call for HP. I really really hope they don't plan on bringing the Pre 3 into the market at $200. That would just be another embarrassing fail.
If they release the pre 3 at $100 this would open the door of opportunity to get non webOS enthusiasts to try the pre3 and fall in love with it.
One of the reasons the pre failed on Sprint is because they tried to sell it for $200. Yeah the EVO phones are released at $200, but those have a great reputation to back up that price point. The pre has a bad reputation for falling apart and being slow.
They need to release the pre for $100 or less and get people hooked.
They should have released the tablets at $300 and $400, get people hooked and then raise the prices in the better revision 2 tablet.
You suck hp
So... If the TP was $100 less... You'd stop your complaining? Somehow I doubt it based on your juvenile "you suck hp".
interesting....
I'm sure several people posting here are computer consultants/resellers in some way, and thus have access to distributor pricing.
My cost on a 32GB touchpad is $568.04, and my distributor has 5,176 in stock. The 16GB touchpad is $488.60, and there are 3,952 in stock. (this is small vendor pricing... I'm sure bigger retailers get better deals)
It sure doesn't seem like a product that's in high demand. But perhaps that just means HP made lots and lots of them before the launch.
It does also suggest why the deals on the 16GB touchpads are not as good - the margin on the 16GB model is very thin.
yikes, since yesterday my distributor is showing only 3 32GB touchpads ordered, and there's actually 1 more 16GB touchpad in stock now than yesterday. I'm not comfortable saying which distributor this is, but it's not some piddly regional distributor, it's a major world-wide outfit (though I have access only to the US stock and pricing data).
this can't be good.
according to amazon.com Touchpad 32GB is number 13th best seller tablet and for amazon.co.uk it is 43 for the touchpad 32GB and 27 for the 16GB.
Doesn't seem to be that bad!
Half full vs half empty in many regards. Things can surely be worse. However, I believe HP is claiming they have what it takes to be #2 in tablets and #1+ overall. So using "their" ruler, things are NOT so hot right now. Will it change? I'm waiting to see.
I give them a F+ for #failuretolaunch
Well, it's one thing to be outsold by all of the Android devices combined as Apple is facing in the phone arena.
It's quite another to be outsold by almost all of the Android devices INDIVIDUALLY as HP is facing in the tablet arena.
Got to love how evry one thinks they have the awnser when they have no clue lol
There could be any number of reasons only time will tell...
So far, I give HP some props with their marketing with ads appearing with celebrities all over the place that don't make you scratch your head. (Not like you could do much worse than Palm originally did) Hopefully, it's a step in the right direction for future WebOS products. If the product doesn't sell, you can't blame marketing this time around.
Don't worry, there will be plenty of "Best Buy was busy pushing Droid Tabs and never gave webOS a chance" stories to fill these pages over the next few months. The fans will find *something* besides HP and the products to blame.
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