惠普将临时恢复生产TouchPad平板电脑

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惠普将临时恢复生产TouchPad平板电脑

CBSi中国·ZOL 作者：孙伟 【编译】
2011年08月31日 09:30


8月31日消息，据科技网站BetaNews报道，惠普称将临时恢复生产TouchPad平板电脑。此前，惠普曾因TouchPad市场反响不佳在这款产品发布仅仅两个月之后就宣布停产。

    惠普将入门级TouchPad价格下调至99美元以清理库存，使得TouchPad销售异常火爆，以致出现供不应求的局面。这可能是惠普决定临时恢复生产TouchPad的原因，此外，惠普此举也可能是为了消化代工厂商积压的库存。惠普没有披露新生产的TouchPad的价格，但警告称TouchPad可能将继续供不应求。

    惠普发言人马克·巴杰尔(Mark Budgell)在博文中表示，“我们不清楚新生产的TouchPad上市销售的时间或价格。我们无法承诺敞开供应TouchPad。”

　　惠普曾表示，该公司在调查继续使用webOS操作系统的途径。

　　惠普恢复生产TouchPad的决定让分析师感到困惑不解。入门级TouchPad的制造成本是296美元，如果售价只有99美元，意味着每台TouchPad将亏损197美元。投资机构Sterne Agee的分析师肖·吴(Shaw Wu)表示，临时恢复生产TouchPad像是一个没有经过深思熟虑的决定，“惠普过去曾有过多次鲁莽之举，此举将会让用户和应用开发者感到困惑”。

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Losing $207 a Pop, H-P Brings Back Its iPad Rival

  By IAN SHERR

The TouchPad is dead. Long live the TouchPad.

Hewlett-Packard Co. said it will temporarily resume manufacturing of its ill-fated tablet computer just 11 days after killing its iPad rival as part of a sweeping corporate overhaul.


The resurrection of the TouchPad follows a spike in demand after H-P, desperate to clear out unsold inventory that had piled up at retailers, slashed the price of the low-end model from $399 to $99.

The decision to discontinue the TouchPad came less than two months after the tablet first went on sale in July, but made little traction against Apple Inc.'s iPad despite an earlier 20% price drop. H-P executives said sales were too weak to justify continued investment.

H-P didn't say what it would charge for the new batch of TouchPads, but cautioned potential buyers there might not be enough to go around.

"We don't know exactly when these units will be available or how many we'll get," H-P spokesman Mark Budgell wrote on a company blog. "We can't promise we'll have enough for everyone." The company said it is pleased by the response it has gotten so far.

On Aug. 20, H-P inadvertently created a TouchPad boom when it dropped the price of the device. The move generated an Internet phenomenon—with Twitter users sharing tips on websites were it was still in stock—and long lines at retailers, including Best Buy Co., as consumers jostled to pick up a $99 TouchPad.

The decision to manufacture a second run, however, left analysts scratching their heads. The introductory model of the TouchPad costs $306 to manufacture, according to an estimate from research firm IHS iSuppli, suggesting a loss of roughly two-thirds if it is sold for $99.

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said the temporary return of the TouchPad was likely a poorly thought-through decision.

"They did a lot of these moves in haste," Mr. Wu said. He said the move will likely create confusion among customers and application developers, which H-P is still trying to woo.

H-P's temporary reversal comes in the midst of a strategic overhaul that will focus the company on software and services. As part of the change, H-P decided to stop making the TouchPad and other hardware running its webOS software. It is also looking to spin off its computer business, the world's biggest.

The company hasn't said what it will do with the group that manages the webOS software, which was acquired with smartphone maker Palm Inc. for $1.2 billion in 2010. The company has said it was investigating ways to continue using webOS.