Did HP just kill the tablet market with their WebOS?

[jlee]

This is how I look at it...considering I'm not even sure I'll use a tablet, $99 is cheap enough for me to give it a shot.

Now $500-600 (new iPad2 territory)? Pfft. I'd buy an Alienware netbook for a little more and have a lot more functionality.

 

[bfdd]

Snappy? You mean having to wait for an app to open on the Touchpad? When on an iPad, the app instantly opens up?

I'm not sure what you talking about? Are you implying an iPad could never be sluggish? If so lols I want what you're smoking. Also if you talking about having to touch the app to full screen it I don't see the issue.

 

[Modelworks]

This is how I look at it...considering I'm not even sure I'll use a tablet, $99 is cheap enough for me to give it a shot.

Now $500-600 (new iPad2 territory)? Pfft. I'd buy an Alienware netbook for a little more and have a lot more functionality.

The bottom is getting ready to fall out on the tablet market and HP knew it. There are two processors in product development now , one from broadcom and another from sigma designs that are going to make the $99 tablet a common item. With those chips all they have to do is add a screen and battery , everything else is in the SOC.

I see woot has the viewsonic tablets for $239. Figure in the profit woot has to make then the profit viewsonic has to make and you can see why Hp selling their tablets for $99 isn't a big loss.

 

[manly]

The prices in that article are wrong.
right now prices for the processor are $11 not $20. The screens are $29 not $68 , flash is $11 not $23. Looks like the prices they quoted were 1K units and HP isn't buying in that small amounts.

I added up before deciding on whether to buy one and came up with 16GB cost of $89 and 32GB cost of $128. Hp isn't dumb and didn't just pick those prices out of thin air. They know what their cost was and selling at less than cost would be actionable by stockholders when they had no reason to other than changing company focus.

Having bought Palm not long ago to now essentially shut it down seems pretty dumb. How much shareholder value has been sliced off HPQ?

The teardown estimates are not going to be exact (certainly not over time) but I'd trust them before your estimate of 75% gross margin. Even Apple would be jealous.

 

[goog40]

The bottom is getting ready to fall out on the tablet market and HP knew it. There are two processors in product development now , one from broadcom and another from sigma designs that are going to make the $99 tablet a common item. With those chips all they have to do is add a screen and battery , everything else is in the SOC.

I see woot has the viewsonic tablets for $239. Figure in the profit woot has to make then the profit viewsonic has to make and you can see why Hp selling their tablets for $99 isn't a big loss.

Just because a product is being sold at a given price on Woot doesn't mean the manufacturer is making any money on it. Like many items being sold by Woot, the gTablet is basically a clearance item and has been for a long time as it must have been featured as a Woot deal a dozen times. They just want to get rid of their inventory and are willing to sell it at a loss to Woot because they have to.

The gTablet was a failure similar to the Touchpad, except on a smaller scale since they didn't set such high sales goals like HP did. Staples pulled it from it's shelves and returned the units back to Viewsonic a month after launch because all their customers were returning it.

 

[gevorg]

"There is so much event logging in the background that it seriously impacts the TouchPad’s performance, as it is constantly doing things it doesn’t need to do. The setting you just changed reduces the amount of logging that is going on."

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/how-to-improve-the-performance-of-your-new-hp-touchpad/3866?

 

[bfdd]

"There is so much event logging in the background that it seriously impacts the TouchPad’s performance, as it is constantly doing things it doesn’t need to do. The setting you just changed reduces the amount of logging that is going on."

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/how-to-improve-the-performance-of-your-new-hp-touchpad/3866?

my friend and i are going to try this side by side tomorrow hopefully.

 

[gevorg]

my friend and i are going to try this side by side tomorrow hopefully.

Nice! Please report back on the actual difference that it makes!

 

[0roo0roo]

I'm not sure what you talking about? Are you implying an iPad could never be sluggish? If so lols I want what you're smoking. Also if you talking about having to touch the app to full screen it I don't see the issue.

the only real discussion is whether the hardware or the software is at fault, that the hp was sluggish is a given.

 

[luv2liv]

I don't know if you guys know this....but the IPS screen is indeed Gorilla glass! We tried keying it and couldn't scratch it! Wow. I haven't tried cutting onions like they demo on YouTube yet. So for 99 bux, you could use it as a photo frame, web browser, email, and cutting board! That's a pretty good deal right?

 

[Dr. Zaus]

All the bickering!

It's easy:
iPad if you are successful and want something with great support that works well

Android if you're a fat nerd with pimples at 23, still living with your parents and delusions of being smarter than everyone else

And you'll get this POS because you are cheep and have no use for anything technological except to play halo and drink Ice with your "bros".

/thread

 

[Red Dawn]

But the IPad goes so well with VW Beetles and Miatas.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

You drunk or stupid this morning?

Is Apple still selling iPads, Powerbooks and Mac Airs like hot cakes. Yes.

When for 90+% of the user base, image is more important than substance. Apple will continue to sell their iProducts for a premium. It's just smart business.

 

[Red Dawn]

All the bickering!

It's easy:
iPad if you have a tendency to float out of open windows

Android if you are practical and don't buy into that posuer BS

And you'll get this POS because it's so cheap otherwise you wouldn't bother buying a tablet because you see no practicality in a Tablet for $500 other than being a posuer
/thread

:thumbsup:

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

The bottom is getting ready to fall out on the tablet market and HP knew it. There are two processors in product development now , one from broadcom and another from sigma designs that are going to make the $99 tablet a common item. With those chips all they have to do is add a screen and battery , everything else is in the SOC.

I see woot has the viewsonic tablets for $239. Figure in the profit woot has to make then the profit viewsonic has to make and you can see why Hp selling their tablets for $99 isn't a big loss.

The viewsonic tablet is a POS. I tried one and it sucks. I'm no fan of WebOS, but I would have paid $400 for an HP Touchpad over the $239 of the Viewsonic tablet. The Viewsonic tablet is chunky, the screen sucks and it stock ROM sucks major donkey ass.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

:thumbsup:

Good play chap.

 

[Imp]

The viewsonic tablet is a POS. I tried one and it sucks. I'm no fan of WebOS, but I would have paid $400 for an HP Touchpad over the $239 of the Viewsonic tablet. The Viewsonic tablet is chunky, the screen sucks and it stock ROM sucks major donkey ass.

I use to think Viewsonic was pretty good. Even when I worked for an IT department, and we had to replace 2000 monitors because the 1-2 year old LCDs were dying across the entire division. Not so sure now...

 

[Zim Hosein]

They could've probably dumped their entire inventory to outfits like Woot and other liquidation house for more money than their fire sale price. Is this a big FU to Apple and Google from HP? I gotta believe it's going to be hard even for Apple to sell $500 iPads when the consumer has been reprogrammed with lower pricing.

Someone was reading Adrian Kingsley-Hughes' Blog this morning, or are you him?

 

[bfdd]

launched it like 5 feet across the room from off the table on to tile. Not even a scratch.

 

[Mermaidman]

What if this was some crazy plot by HP to get the Touchpad into the hands of consumers? Later this week, HP might announce that they are NOT exiting the market after all. :sneaky:

 

[SKORPI0]

What if this was some crazy plot by HP to get the Touchpad into the hands of consumers? Later this week, HP might announce that they are NOT exiting the market after all. :sneaky:

I'm all for that. At least a lot of people got them cheap and WebOS will still be supported.

 

[Phokus]

Considering picking this up... can this do all the e-reader formats for books? Also PDF? Also, how is it as a web browser and picture viewer?

Thanks!

 

[Ns1]

Considering picking this up

you missed the boat

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Considering picking this up... can this do all the e-reader formats for books? Also PDF? Also, how is it as a web browser and picture viewer?

Thanks!

Only about 3 days late. I was online all of saturday auto refreshing 9 tabs to try and get one.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

This is how I look at it...considering I'm not even sure I'll use a tablet, $99 is cheap enough for me to give it a shot.

Now $500-600 (new iPad2 territory)? Pfft. I'd buy an Alienware netbook for a little more and have a lot more functionality.

I had no intention of ever owning a tablet, but for $100 why the hell not for an XL facebook/internet browser/media player.