Report: HP’s $99 TouchPad to return again in HP eBay store
The HP TouchPad flew off shelves when the company slashed the base price of the tablet from $400 to
$99. The company promised that there would be a final run of the tablet, but
TechCrunch is reporting that the
company will be selling its 16GB and 32 GB models at firesale prices on its eBay store this Sunday. The sale is set to
start at 7 p.m. Eastern time, 6 p.m., Central.
The models will be refurbished — not new — the report said. According to what appears to be a leaked employee memo, the company planned to let its workers have first crack at the eBay sale by delaying their announcement of the auction.
The tablets will reportedly be listed under the “laptops” section of the store and will be selling for $99 and $149, respectively. The company is limiting sales to two tablets per person, and purchases can only be made via PayPal. The refurbished tablets come with a 90-day limited warranty, and all sales are final.
The flurry of excitement around the TouchPad — thanks entirely to its price tag — was a wake-up call to tablet makers, who hadn’t aggressively pursued the lower-end of the market. Now that the Kindle Fire is selling for $199 and
Ainovo is planning to release its $99, Ice Cream Sandwich-powered tablet, manufacturers may be working harder to tap into the demand for tablets at lower price points.
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