Last Friday night the internet went crazy with bloggers and tech writers telling stories of the HP Touchpad tablet computer being sold for the obscenely low price of $99 or $149. The product is only 49 days old, launched to the voices of critics panning it, and with a huge uphill battle against the forces of Apple (with iOS) and Google (with Android). At the same time, Hewlett Packard has announced that it is leaving the PC business entirely because, while it generates over $40 billion in revenue, it's a low margin business. However, as soon as the announcement to heavily discount the Touchpad hit the news, one question was on everyone's mind - Can we convert it to support Android?
Even the critics will admit that the tablet is actually pretty good with high-performance and good features. However, it uses WebOS which has so little market share that any chance of every gaining would be a miracle to say the least. Here's my theory:
- The HP Touchpad is built with hardware that is already used in other devices that support Android.
- The firesale over the last 2 days has resulted in over 350,000 units sold and many more than that are being sold by retailers.
- Touchpad sales are eating up buyers of iPads and Android tablets
What if this is all a ploy to actually gain market share overnight! If the Touchpad can support the Android operating system it would mean HP (or the company that actually acquires their PC business) would have a huge chunk of the tablet market literally overnight. There are public contests to successfully install the Android OS onto the HP Touchpad. It's theoretically possible. So, what if this is all a ploy to get a million Android devices into the hands of would-be iPad owners overnight?
I think it's possible. Of course, this theory has to have a revenue positive side or it wouldn't be worth the gamble. If they're not making money on the hardware perhaps they have a plan to make money on services. That I don't know. But it seems to me that even with the future promise of a slick iPad 3, having a million new devices in the market makes things interesting. What do you think?
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Bryan Robertson, Broker Associate | T: 650.799.9951 | Email: bryan@serenogroup.com | Website: http://www.BryanRobertsonHomes.com |CA License: 01191946 | Sereno Group - Los Altos branch | 369 S. San Antonio Road | Los Altos, CA 94022
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