Retail distribution channels for the HP TouchPad are almost completely sold out but thre are still some places to get them. We have a post that is constantly being updated HERE if you still want to buy one for $99. The discount to $99 this early in the products lifecycle is unheralded and customers are flocking to electronic stores in droves. We have talked to many distribution channels including major stores in Canada and the USA and it looks like close to 400,000 tablets were sold in the last 48 hours.
Not only are retail channels like Futureshop, Bestbuy, Walmart, Radio Shack and other stores sold out in minutes, the main HP small business site is crashing. The HP Small Business website in the USA is getting close to 2 million visits and the main shopping cart page has been down for almost 24 hours.
Many websites are still not offering the deal on the Touchpad and should be doing it soon. Amazon, Newegg, Tigerdirect and others are still selling it at the $399.99 price for the 16 GB WIFI version. Sources at Amazon have told us that rather then selling it for $99.99 the company might just return the items directly to HP and get more money for the return items.
The TouchPad is the first tablet running webOS and the future of the operating system is in doubt since HP announced they are suspending their entire PC devision. The webOS official team that carried over from Palm have mentioned that they will be licensing the OS to other companies who are interested. They also claimed that the OS will continue to be refined and developed unto October 2011.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
