If you need further evidence that 2011 is the “Year of the iPad” and not the “Year of the Tablet,” take a gander at Best Buy, who reportedly ordered up 270,000 HP TouchPad tablets and has only found homes for 25,000 of them -- not good news for HP, who is announcing quarterly earnings on Wednesday.
AllThingsD is reporting that HP may be feeling the heat from Best Buy after the manufacturer shipped 270,000 HP TouchPad units to the retailer, who thus far has moved less than 10 percent of that inventory. A source tells the website that a figure of 25,000 units sold might be considered “charitable” and likely doesn’t account for units that have been returned for a refund.
“Best Buy, sources tell us, is so unhappy that it has told HP it’s unwilling to pay for all the TouchPads it has taking up expensive space in its stores and warehouses and wants HP to take them back. HP, for its part, is pleading with Best Buy to be patient,” the report reveals. “We’re also told a senior HP executive, possibly executive VP Todd Bradley, is slated to travel to Minneapolis soon to discuss the matter with Best Buy executives.”
While neither company has commented on the report, it’s likely to forecast somber news for HP, who will be reporting quarterly earnings on Wednesday. If the manufacturer reports any sales figures for the TouchPad at all, it’s likely to be what’s known as “channel sales” -- the number of units sold to retailers, rather than “sell through,” which are actual sales to consumers.
Envisioneering Group analyst Rich Doherty claims that HP’s TouchPad troubles don’t stop there -- Wal-Mart, Microcenter and Fry’s all appear to be suffering the same fate, with HP’s “wildcat pricing moves” presumably keeping interested buyers from climbing on board the webOS train. The HP TouchPad launched in July for $499.99 (16GB) or $599.99 (32GB) but a recent $100 weekend price cut was made permanent last week.
“After the initial surge of interest after the July release, all those price promotions have caused consumers interested in buying a TouchPad to pause because they think the price is going to fall further,” Doherty revealed to AllThingsD.
Don’t feel bad, HP -- tablet makers favoring Google’s Android are also finding Apple’s iPad market a tough nut to crack, and with webOS widely considered a slicker operating system than Android’s tablet-specific Honeycomb, the battle for second place has only begun.
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(Image courtesy of AllThingsD)
