[BayAreaTreo]

Recently speaking with a senior Webos/Palm engineer regarding a battery issue this individual shared with me the 200k TP in production are already sold. He went on to share that the next run won't satisfy the backlog of orders already placed directly from HP.

The number of orders already pending exceeds the final production run.

This is merely a heads up so take it for what you will. The individual I spoke with was a director and on the front lines.

not trying to start a debate just letting people know that the pool of available final run HP's will be slim.

Update*******Update**********Guess my source was correct sorry to say, see below******

Guess I was right. Sad that I am but I was correct and my sources were correct as well.


Dear Valued Customer,

Making sure customers have a positive experience when they purchase our products is a priority for us. In some cases, limited inventory makes it challenging to fulfill all customer orders. As you signed up for updates on the HP TouchPad, we wanted you to know that we are officially out of stock. Some retailers will have some stock available, but our online inventory is depleted.

Thank you for your interest in this product and the feedback you provided. Your input plays a critical role in defining our product roadmap and will help us continue to bring innovative products to market.

Sincerely,
HP

[ohmytvc15]

wouldn't surprise me. I feel lucky that I got one at the fire sale. I'm usually not that lucky.

[T4H_KiserSose]

I can kinda back that up by saying starting this month (which I have copy of an incompany email showing the the release date) that HP employees will get there chance on buying touchpads thru the epp program(employee purchase program) and are limited to 1 per person ...so that there already limits the inventory by some amount along side any orders that were placed when the initial firesale happened

[rbyrne]

wouldn't surprise me. I feel lucky that I got one at the fire sale. I'm usually not that lucky.

"im not usually that lucky"

thats how probability works

[BayAreaTreo]

While I can appreciated your comments about my comments being annoying I am trying to respect the privacy of the person I spoke with a few days ago. He has been with Palm for many years and holds a director title. This person I spoke with was not a tech support person and I was provided a direct number to him in Sunnyvale.

My point in this thread was to relay an off the cuff comments that was stated by someone in the know about the current state of the HP WEBOS inventory now and in the future.

Again this was in relation to concerns about my battery in the current TP I own and this person's insight helped me understand how dire the issue is with the TP inventory.

His comments were factual and based on his first hand experience related to inventory, production, repairs in process etc.

So please feel free to disregard or if you are like many others who are hoping that HP will come through for them I was merely trying to let those folks know that even orders that have already been placed and are pending could be in jeopardy of not being filled so seek alternative routes if possible.

[BayAreaTreo]

wouldn't surprise me. I feel lucky that I got one at the fire sale. I'm usually not that lucky.

I am not that lucky either. I am not sure how I did it but I got 2 16GBs, one for me and one for my wife. MacMall was the first one (super lucky) and Aaron's rentals was the other (paid $140 versus $99).

Regardless I feel for the folks still seeking out a TP for themselves. I think the inventory is way more dire than HP is letting on and I have a feeling come mid October HP maybe looking like a villain not a hero.

I hope they can fill each and every order that is pending but I would not be surprised if there is a backlog of 500k or more in orders.

[rbyrne]

Joe,

While I can appreciated your comments about my comments being annoying I am trying to respect the privacy of the person I spoke with a few days ago. He has been with Palm for many years and holds a director title. This person I spoke with was not a tech support person and I was provided a direct number to him in Sunnyvale.

My point in this thread was to relay an off the cuff comments that was stated by someone in the know about the current state of the HP WEBOS inventory now and in the future.

Again this was in relation to concerns about my battery in the current TP I own and this person's insight helped me understand how dire the issue is with the TP inventory.

His comments were factual and based on his first hand experience related to inventory, production, repairs in process etc.

So please feel free to disregard or if you are like many others who are hoping that HP will come through for them I was merely trying to let those folks know that even orders that have already been placed and are pending could be in jeopardy of not being filled so seek alternative routes if possible.

Why would HP announce "Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand,"

if they are just going to sell them behind customers backs, doesnt make a lot of sense.

Plus the amount of "a bestbuy rep told me..." stories ive heard

[BayAreaTreo]

Why would HP announce "Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand,"

if they are just going to sell them behind customers backs, doesnt make a lot of sense.

Plus the amount of "a bestbuy rep told me..." stories ive heard

The ones that are already sold or spoken for are the orders that were placed on the HP website on or prior to 8/22/11. Many of those folks have not received their TP's but were assured by HP that under the next production run they indeed would.

Hp is building new TP's to sidestep the early termination clause in the contract with FoxConn which I am sure is a hefty cost. So it is a good move on HP's part to use up the remaining inventory stock pile of parts and in turn satisfy as many of the pending orders as possible from the HP store queue.

My point is I believe not everyone who has already ordered from HP directly is going to get a TP or maybe HP will retroactively allow only each household to order one so the entire backlog can be filled by adjusting the existing orders (FYI I am sure some have a order pending for 10+ TP's). Regardless it is going to be crazy and I believe those waiting on the sidelines will get the short end of the stick including some if have received confirmation orders from HP> I think it will be a travesty if some of those folks who ordered from HP the day the sale was announced don't get a TP; sadly I think it is probable.

Lastly I have been around since 2002, never once have I spread a rumor so once again take it or leave it; I am merely relaying information that was relayed to me.

[Cantaffordit]

they are just using up the parts they had already paid for.

[rbyrne]

The ones that are already sold or spoken for are the orders that were placed on the HP website on or prior to 8/22/11. Many of those folks have not received their TP's but were assured by HP that under the next production run they indeed would.

Hp is building new TP's to sidestep the early termination clause in the contract with FoxConn which I am sure is a hefty cost. So it is a good move on HP's part to use up the remaining inventory stock pile of parts and in turn satisfy as many of the pending orders as possible from the HP store queue.

My point is I believe not everyone who has already ordered from HP directly is going to get a TP or maybe HP will retroactively allow only each household to order one so the entire backlog can be filled by adjusting the existing orders (FYI I am sure some have a order pending for 10+ TP's). Regardless it is going to be crazy and I believe those waiting on the sidelines will get the short end of the stick including some if have received confirmation orders from HP> I think it will be a travesty if some of those folks who ordered from HP the day the sale was announced don't get a TP; sadly I think it is probable.

Lastly I have been around since 2002, never once have I spread a rumor so once again take it or leave it; I am merely relaying information that was relayed to me.

Hm okay yeah i forgot the huge number of people who ordered, but never received! Even if they did sell 200,000 touchpads, thats not a lot compared to the demand anyway

Also i am fully aware your not making this up and have actually been told this by a HP rep, im not saying your lying or never had that conversation, but it is still a rumour.

[BayAreaTreo]

but it is still a rumour.

Rbyrne,

I agree 100% with this statement. I hope I am wrong.

[twack]

I whole-heartedly, kinda, sorta, somewhat believe that one of you are close to being right. That is just my opinion which is not based on anything in particular.

Good fodder though.

[seretogis]

It's the positive webOS rumors that are generally false.

Negative webOS expectations usually turn out to bestest-case scenarios which ultimately turn out worse than anyone could have ever made up in a P|C thread.

This sort of thing makes me want to try out a WP7 device. I have had limited experiences with webOS until recently, but I feel like I arrived to the party a day late, and it was a BD/SM party where all of HPalm's customers lined up to be paddled.

Pardon the visual.

[emjayess]

I would say keep checking the local Craigslist ads. I got a third TP yesterday from a guy who bought a firesale 32GB and decided he didn't want it. Paid $200 and it included a HP case. I happened to be refreshing often enough that I caught his ad just after it went up and contacted him. You never know. Now, both my teen boys have TPs and we're doing some Homebrew bonding.... (thanks to ncinerate's fantastic "Get Started" thread that bailed me out by showing me how to use the Doctor with the used TP after I messed it up...)

[redfarm]

ya what employee wouldn't buy one as a xmas gift for a c-note?

[Mac.World]

The ones that are already sold or spoken for are the orders that were placed on the HP website on or prior to 8/22/11. Many of those folks have not received their TP's but were assured by HP that under the next production run they indeed would.

Yep, this is my situation. Placed an order for 2 16gb TP's and I see the ship date change every day on my order, not to mention the charge keep showing up and disappearing from my bank - daily.

I was lucky to get my 32gb TP when I did. These 16gb ones though mwy never show up at this rate.

[cjf243]

Just talked to my nephew (who works for HP) is trying to get a touchpad said that the date for the employee sale is the 28th. He said there are 300,000 employees. First come first serve. Another mess HP has gotton themselves into.

[T4H_KiserSose]

Just talked to my nephew (who works for HP) is trying to get a touchpad said that the date for the employee sale is the 28th. He said there are 300,000 employees. First come first serve. Another mess HP has gotton themselves into.

the email said to "US employees " ... I can't see 300k employees in the US alone... Doesn't add up with how the email is written

[allowingtoo]

I am one of the pending HP Small Business orders for a 32gb that has been in ADMIN since day 1 for some unknown reason. There have been 2 emails that have been sent out - a 2 week email and a 6-8 week email. I received a 2 week email 2 weeks ago but no TouchPad yet. Yet others that have received the 6-8 week email have received their TouchPads.

If you read the "People who ordered at HP Small Business thread" - it is a...well, I can't say how HP runs that section of their business here. It's a CF.

This thread is highly alarming to me - when I haven't received the one I ordered from them - yet they continue to take holds out from my bank account weekly and promising me one every time I call.

My original order showed that it SHOULD have shipped 3 days after I ordered it and I should have received it 5 days after that. Whatever happened on their end I can only imagine. I can explain on the phone to them that I can go into their system and put in order numbers and see what higher numbers than mine have actually shipped - and so why hasn't mine? I see orders of 5 and 10 TouchPads delivered. Does anyone at HP care? They are just people that answer the phones and are underpaid at this point. I have yet to reach anyone that can actually help me. I told them I just want them to go to the warehouse and slap a shipping label on a TouchPad 32gb box and they said they don't know where the warehouse is.

I'm calling again on Monday.

[Renderhaus]

Wouldn't matter if HP produced 1-million units for this 'final run'. There still would not be enough to meet demand for a $99 - $149 tablet of this caliber. This is a magic pricepoint that cannot be beat.

I read somewhere that Android had moved north of 2million tablets. If that's true, then an unrestricted supply of $100 TouchPads would easily top 3million. So if this last production run were in fact 100k to 250k, then they were already sold out before they even got built.

In fact, when I got mine(32gb) and my wife's(16gb) after standing in line an hour before Best Buy opened up a few weeks back, there were a couple of fellas in line behind me saying how they didn't even intend on using it for anything other than a digital photo frame. I felt like telling them, "Alright then, get outta line and let someone else who REALLY wants a TP stand in line. Idiots like you who don't know the true value of the device don't deserve one!"