The great $98 TouchPad sale reaches NZ - details leak

UPDATE 10.10am: Online retailer Acquire, which earlier this morning listed several hundred HP TouchPads in stock, has in the past hour put the tablet onsale for $115 - but all units were gone by the time NBR checked in.

We've probably not seen quite the last of the TouchPad, however. In the US, where units were flicked off for $US99 over the weekend, they've started to appear on eBay for around $US250.

On eBay.com.au, the going rate seems to be $A250.

Acquire's moment of fame was marred by two bloggers sharing links to its site - only to find anyone could access their logged in accounts.

Meanwhile, Stuff is reporting that punters queuing at a Hamilton Noel Leeming store were left empty-handed because all stock had been sold to staff (which would be a bad show after the publicity Harvey Norman generated across the Tasman with its TouchPad sale to the public - though clearly we're talking about far fewer than 6000 units being on-hand locally).

UPDATE 9am: a source at a major HP reseller has just told NBR that there will be a TouchPad firesale in NZ. The reseller was awaiting final confirmation from HP's twin distributors (Ingram Micro and Exeed) but expected a deal to go live before lunchtime.

"It won't be $99 but it should be around $130," the reseller said (hat tip to Ben Gracewood for putting NBR in touch with the Reseller).

HP’s 48-day attempt to take on Apple’s iPad ended with a bang yesterday – at least across the Tasman.

Harvey Norman sold 6000 HP TouchPads in an hour yesterday, at the fire sale price of $A98 (for the 16GB model; 32GB version went for $A148). It was a similar story in the US over the weekend as varioius chains held "liquidation sales" that saw TouchPads sold from $US99.

I’m still waiting for official word from Harvey Norman here, but according to the chain’s official Twitter account, there will be no repeat of the big clear-out at Auckland stores (where the price of the 32GB model was recently cut from $949 to $819, and the 1GB version from $799 to $679 - as of yesterday. As I type, Acquire.co.nz has several hundred "on sale" from $574.66 - if you've seen it cheaper, email me, or DM me on Twitter.).

Pity, at $A98 ($NZ126) the TouchPad would have been great value.

Who knows what the future holds for HP’s WebOS software now it’s deleted the TouchPad tablet and (never launched here) WebOS phones from its line-up.

But even as it stands, the TouchPad can at least be used for general web surfing – and, unlike the iPad, it has full support for Flash elements and video. And the hardware itself is beautifully engineered. 

When HP launched the TouchPad in New Zealand, I said the company – late to the tablet party – had to go hard, or go home.

To establish the TouchPad, it would need someone camped outside Telecom and Vodafone day and night (ideally a team, all experienced in the dirty street fight that is phone company politics), and clarify its big but plans to put WebOS software on laptops and other gadgets, and stop fudging whether it would license the OS to other manufacturers, or not.

To the company’s credit, it hasn’t waffled around on the hardware front. There’s nothing worse than a project that dribbles along. If a project’s not a winner, it’s better to fail fast.

And although all the press is bad right now, HP’s decision to abandon WebOS hardware will help the software’s prospect with other gadget makers.

Likewise, the company’s plan to sell or spin off its PC business is a sensible move (certainly investors think so, HP shares were up 2% on the day).

Software and services are growing areas for HP. Both would be better-placed is the company is seen as hardware-neutral.