08-31-2011, 03:34 PM
RAMd®d wrote:
does point out that there is a big pentup demand for a quality $100 tablet
Actually, it doesn't.
People think they can get a iPad experience by paying much less for something akin to an iPad. That's like getting a great price on a Yugo. Oxymoron. They may be able to fool themselves. Certainly *some* will be happy, and that's fine.. But this isn't even a blip on Apple's radar.
Doesn't need to be. I think you are incorrect about people wanting an iPad experience for less than an iPad. People want a tablet. And the people who can't afford the $500, $629, to $829 prices are the same people who can't afford to buy hundreds of dollars worth of apps as well.
I don't know why there is such a hostility here about others buying a TouchPad nor do I know why people keep calling it cheap. It most certainly isn't cheap. It is discounted. The difference is the TouchPad has high quality parts. Capacitive touch. IPS screen. Dual core 1.2 GHz CPU. 1 GB of RAM. High quality battery. Beats audio. Great OS. Even though the TouchPad is priced the same as cheap android tablet at CVS, it isn't the same. It would be like Lexus dropping the prices on their cars by 80%. Sure, it isn't a Mercedes, but it isn't a Yugo either.
If I didn't have the money to buy an iPad and the hundreds of dollars of apps, I would be perfectly happy with the TouchPad. I really doubt I could say the same about a $150 tablet that runs Android 2.2 and works best with a stylus.
RAMd®d wrote: Good to see HP racing to the bottom and making no money doing it, sounds like a great business model.
Exactly.
I think it is a bit unfair to characterize a company dumping a product as "great business model." HP decided to get out of the tablet business. Sales have shown that the fire sale may have been short-sighted. HP reevaluating their positioning isn't unheard of. And while they are losing hundreds of millions of dollars on the hardware, they are building a base of the second most popular tablet and they may get that money back when they sell webOS. All speculation but HP isn't the first someone to try and make something good out of a bad situation and enjoy benefits from unintended consequences.
RAMd®d wrote: So I guess they want to quit while they're "ahead"? Go out while they're on top?
Let's see what their Q2s for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 look like.
Could be. Margins are so thin and IBM was so successful in getting out of the PC business, HP thinks it can as well. HP has @ 50% lead each in share over the next two competitors. Unless their computers start randomly killing people in the street, no way they lose that lead in a year. Just because they have the lead in worldwide market share, doesn't mean it is profitable enough to stay in the business. If they make most of their money in big iron, peripherals, and services, then focus on those.