HP Announces Touchpad Production To Resume

By: Patrick Prescott, NewsOXY Reporter
08/31/2011 03:01 PM ET

HP has announced it is reversing a decision on the TouchPad it made less than two weeks ago and will produce more units of the computer tablet in the fourth quarter.

The company made a big announcement only two months after launching the TouchPad that it will halt production due to sluggish sales. The decision to end the brand came with a reduced price by 50 percent. Today, they make another announcement that sounds confusing, but only after the tablet flew off the shelves following the discounted prices.

"Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand," HP spokesman Mark Budgell wrote in a company blog post. "As we know more about how, when and where TouchPads will be available, we will communicate that here and through e-mail to those who requested notification."

Now the stock has been depleted, and retailers have been bombarded by customer requests for the cheapened devices, and dozens of retailers have reported completely selling out.

Last Monday, Budgell said that HP, after receiving "an overwhelming number of requests to be notified if the TouchPad is again available for sale," turned off the customer notification ability. He then wrote on the company blog that HP will make "a limited quantity" of the tablets "during our fourth fiscal quarter 2011, which ends October 31."

While the resurgence in TouchPad interest may be a promising sign for HP, the flip-flopping decision process isn't serving its public image.