It is safe to say now that the HP TouchPad was a complete fail despite me being optimistic in my last discussion about the lackluster sales; as Hewlett-Packard has decided to throw in the towel on this one.

Surprisingly HP, in a massive overhaul has re-positioned themselves and intends to ditch the tablets, smartphones, and possibly even consider selling their PC division.  According to recent news HP’s new CEO Leo Apotheker is now aiming to become rivals with IBM Corp rather than try to compete with market leaders like mega giant Apple.  Taking a similar approach to what IBM has done in the past, HP has agreed they are not meeting the demands at the consumer level nor their strategic corporate plans, and that restructuring and exiting failing consumer businesses is a must.

HP No Match for Apple

Apple has managed to remain at the top of the game, and consistently brings innovative, reliable and game changing products to the scene.  Not only that, but their marketing is simply amazing; often convincing people to buy a product they never knew they needed or wanted before.  Many people thought that the iPad wouldn’t gain much steam but Apple has certainly proven everybody wrong with that and every tech company, including start-ups out of nowhere were jumping on the scene trying to steal a slice of the pie.

Deciding to liquidate their TouchPad inventory, HP is offering the tablets at a surprising $99, although they are currently being shown as out of stock since this afternoon.  Best Buy decided they wouldn’t be participating in such sales and simply pulled the webOS tablets from their shelves and is reportedly in the process of shipping them back to HP.

HP Offers Refunds for TouchPad Owners

Even more shocking in my opinion is the fact that HP is offering refunds to all those who have purchased the TouchPad for the difference of their original purchase price and the current $99 16GB or $149 32GB.  So if you already took the plunge don’t worry, you can enjoy a nice kickback too.

HP will have to take a loss on this one, and further rumors from webOSroundup aren’t offering much better news for the tech company.  If the rumors are true, there is news that an internal memo from AT&T states that they have completely canceled the launch of the Pre 3 on their network too.