HP TouchPad Dies Quickly: Should Retailers Offer Refunds?
0HP is one confused company. It recently launched a tablet to challenge iPad and Android tablets. HP TouchPad was not the best tablet on the market. WebOS, the operating system that ran on the device, was exciting but limited in many ways. Many of us expected HP to make major changes to its TouchPad operations in the future. Instead of innovating to compete more effectively against Apple and Android tablet makers, HP has decided to get out of the tablet business altogether. That means those of you who have bought a HP TouchPad may want to try to return your tablet already.
The way HP has discontinued its tablet operation shows that the company was never serious about this business in the first place. HP TouchPad was just a shot in the dark. If people bought it like hotcakes, HP probably would have continued its WebOS operations. Now, so many early adopters have been burned by the company.
HP had this to say about the move:
HP plans to announce that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones. HP will continue to explore options to optimise the value of webOS software going forward. Our webOS devices have not gained enough traction in the marketplace with consumers. Continuing to execute our current device approach in this space is no longer in the interest of HP or its shareholders,
said HP CEO Leo Apotheker. Of course, HP executives should have the interest of shareholders in mind. So they threw early adopters under the bus by pulling the plug on this platform completely.
This demonstrates how Apple has made it look easy with its iPad operations. At this point, it is going to take a special effort for Apple competitors to come up with a tablet that can topple iPad. In the meantime, retailers need to offer refunds to early TouchPad adopters. Don’t you agree?
