Price and Information systems
Tablet is a term that refers to mobile computers. They are larger than mobile phones and unlike desktop or laptops that are operated through physical keyboard, tablets are fed information by touching of the screen. This market is widely dominated by Apple ipad since its launch. With the arrival of Hewlett Packard (HP) tablet, the market power was expected to shift. HP was introduced to help provide the competition in the market where other devices had failed to challenge the dominance of Apple ipad.
HP tablets were initially introduced to the market on similar prices to the Apple ipads. This may be attributed to the reality that they both run dual core processors of around 1gigahertz and above. The two also have equal storage capacity of either 16 GHZ or 32 GHZ. The touchpad and ipad can also be found in 64 GHZ. The two also have physical resemblance. The touchpad possess a front facing camera, same size screen and curved case similar to the ipad (Iain, August 20, 2011). When the actual sales did not meet the projected sales, the company marketing HP touchpad decided to cut down the prices. This decision was arrived at following the incapability of the device to appeal to the intended consumers. This is attributed to many factors. One being that the touchpad is bulky in the sense of its making. It weighs twice as much as the ipads. This makes ipad more appealing to consumers than the touchpad. Although HP and ipad have same level of resolution, the latter has no rear-facing camera in place. Rear-facing cameras are important to consumers in video call. They use the camera to illustrate what they see.
The fact that the HP touchpad had fewer applications than the Apple ipad played a role in determining the discount decision. There are just about 300 applications in the palm’s application directory. HP touchpad runs on webOS operating system offered by Palm. In the webOS system, there are 8000 applications. Out of the total, palm recognizes that touchpad can only access 700 applications. This denies the customers the right to enjoy variety of applications thus look for satisfaction from somewhere else. In order to keep on attracting customers, the HP touchpad prices were cut. The prices were now lower than the prices of ipads, which were still in a different league.
The decision to cut down the prices of HP touchpad was a great move. By cutting down the price, touchpad was now being marketed as an alternative to the ipads. In the first place, its marketers thought of it as a replacement to the ipads. Due to its prominent inadequacies, it proved to be of a lower quality to the ipads. These inadequacies dictated that the touchpad had to be sold at lower prices. Although this move was a great one, it was just one of the available options to help curb the problem. Other options were not given time to help solve the problem. Things could have been done differently.
One of the things that should have been done was to enhance the promotion of the device. Special features of the HP touchpad were to be sold to the consumers in order to help increase its market coverage. The touchpad is elegantly designed and commands a lot of respect in the market. Amongst the closest ipads competitors, HP touchpad is the best. With proper and effective marketing, HP could have offered the greatest competition to the Apple ipad devices. Apart from a few difference, touch pad is similar if not better than the Apple ipads. It has the best audio device in the tablet market. These special features should have been sold to the consumers effectively and efficiently.
Another possible solution to help save the declining HP touchpad’s market control would have been modification of the device. In order to compete properly in the market, important features that appeal to the consumers should have been modified. One prominent feature to be modified is the number of applications available to customers in the webOS operating system by the Palm. Developers of the device should have carried out research on the product to determine the taste of the consumers. This could have led to the modification based on the target demands. The device should have rear-facing camera, light and portable to satisfy the needs of the consumers. The life span of its battery should have been improved. By carrying out these modifications, HP touchpad could have upped its game in order to be in the same league if not better than Apple ipads.
Another possible solution to the problem could have been period. Since the touchpad was a new product and competitor, it should have been given time to penetrate the coverage. Among the Apple ipads’ competitors in town, its discontinuation came as a surprise to many who had hopes for the device. It happened so quickly in the sense that other options did not come into play to help solve the problem at hand. Some commodities get better with time and HP touchpad is no different. With time, the developers could have realized on the source of the problem and enhance the device based on the demands of the tablet market.
To start with, the touch pad device was overpriced. Depending on its features and shortcomings, the prices should have been lower than ipads’ prices. Such prices charged are not at the same level with the satisfaction derived from the commodity. HP touchpad lacks rear-facing camera, has fewer applications compared to ipads, is bulky and has a short life span battery. All these shortcomings demand that the prices are to be lower than costs charged for ipads. The high charges for the touchpad made consumers to shy away from the product since they did not derive maximum satisfaction from it. This forced the marketers to offer several discounts and reduced prices. Because of this, the cost of marketing the touchpad became expensive forcing the withdrawal of the device from the market.
The tablet should be remanufactured but with various modifications to obtain the status of an ipad killer. Many of the modifications should be increased number of applications available, manufacturing of lighter devices as compared to the originals and the battery lifespan should be improved to serve the consumers for more than 5 hours. Other features such as rear-facing cameras should be in place. The storage capacity and resolution levels should be maintained. These modifications with a slightly lower price as compared to the ipads will do for a start. This will help in improving the level of competition since the two prominent service providers will be in the same league. Consumers will enjoy the satisfaction similar to the one obtained from ipads but at a lower price. This will boost the sales of HP touchpad, as the number of consumers calling for the cheap product will increase.
References
Iain Marlow. (August 20, 2011). HP’s tablet surrender: A sign of trouble for Apple’s rivals. The Globe and Mail, p. B.1. Retrieved on December 1, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand
Mark Prigg. (2011, June 30). HP tablet could tap into iPad’s market: Just touch it to your phone to swap emails. Evening Standard, 3. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2388116551).
Paul Gilster. (2011, August 29). A lesson in tablet pricing. News & Observer,D.1. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2437571271).
Perenson, M. (2011, September). HP Touchpad: Not Ready for the Tablet Big Leagues. PC World. Retrieved March 7, 2012, from ProQuest Computing. (Document ID: 2439069851).
Troy Wolverton. (July 5, 2011). Hp’s Tablet Entry Nips at Apple Ipad’s Heels: TouchPad’s operating system, other features make it a worthy rival, but not a replacement. Contra Costa Times, C.1. Retrieved on December 1, 2011, from ProQuest Newsstand
