HP isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to the HP TouchPad. It’s leveraging on its strong relationships with Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart to bring the tab to the masses. A snapshot of Walmart’s inventory (courtesy: preCentral) shows the 32GB version of HP’s webOS tab with Wi-Fi priced at $599.
Though the exact release date is not known, the tablet seems to be on schedule to release in June. The HP TouchPad is priced the same as the equivalent iPad 2, just like most other tablets today. HP might have had a better chance at capturing a bigger slice of market share by reducing the price of its webOS tab. Though a sneak peek of the webOS 3.0 platform was impressive along with the tab’s seamless integration with webOS smartphones, this is HP’s first tablet venture. With the iPad 2 and Honeycomb tabs such as Motorola Xoom and the soon-to-release Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 available at the same price, HP will have its work cut out.
Along with the HP TouchPad, Walmart will also be offering accessories for the tab such as aTouchstone Dock/Stand for $79.88, Bluetooth keyboard for $69.88, TouchPad case for $49.88, and AC charger for $29.88.
Since Walmart already has imminent plans for the 32GB variant, there’s a good chance the tab will release on June 1. Hopefully, the 16GB version that’s rumored to cost $500 will be following soon too. Maybe HP’s attempt to make the tab widely available will work for it.
We just need some official announcement from HP now.
[via BGR, preCentral]
