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Best Buy is sitting on more than 200,000 unsold TouchPads, and is threatening to send them back to HP. The situation is so bad that a top HP exec is slated to fly to Minnesota to try and make nice with the retail giant.
Arik Hesseldahl at AllThingsD reports that Best Buy ordered 270,000 of the HP tablets, which launched last month to mediocre reviews.
So far, it’s sold only 25,000. And even that number may be high, as it doesn’t account for returns.
Best Buy doesn’t want all that unsold inventory taking up shelf space, and is asking HP to take them back. Todd Bradley or another HP exec is reportedly going to fly to Minneapolis to try and persuade Best Buy otherwise.
Apparently the problem isn’t limited to Best Buy — Fry’s, Wal-Mart, and other chains are also reporting terrible sales, and HP’s quick price cuts may have had the exact wrong effect, convincing consumers to wait to see if the price drops more.
The tablet has already seen deep discounts — the company quickly dropped $100 off the price, and last weekend retailer Staples offered a coupon for another $100 off.
Like we said yesterday, the only hope for WebOS is if HP licenses it to phone makers currently trapped between Google-Motorola and Microsoft-Nokia.
Article source: SAI http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/1PFV75ps6YY/hps-touchpad-is-officially-a-disaster-2011-8