In Australia, the HP Touchpad costs $599 (16GB) and $699 (32GB). That’s already disappointing given the iPad 2 is cheaper, and that Americans pay $100 less for each model. And that divide just got worse. In the States, HP itself now offers $50 instant cash back on both TouchPads, and Amazon is discounting, too.
Meanwhile, Australians get no joy from either HP directly, or Harvey Norman. I reached out to HP’s tablet team and to their PR guys… radio silence. What gives HP? The TouchPad is a pretty decent piece of kit, but you’re going to have to be much more aggressive if you want to gain traction against an army of Androids tablets, let alone become the standout Pepsi to Apple’s Coke.