TouchPad to launch June 12?
Thanks to an enterprising tipster, we've managed to get our hands on HP's “QuickSpecs” technical specifications sheet for the TouchPad webOS tablet. The four-page document is something that HP puts together for their business customers and resellers (see examples here and here).
Context & Ripple Effects
HP has been walking the TouchPad toward market all spring: the February announcement was followed by months of conflicting price signals — an early $699 estimate from BGR, then PreCentral's March report of a June release from $499. The picture firmed up in late May, with the 32GB model confirmed at $599, Wal-Mart signed on as a retail carrier, first app partners named, and a European launch promised later in the year.
Today's story narrows the last open question — timing. A tipster leaked HP's four-page "QuickSpecs" sheet, the document HP builds for business customers and resellers rather than consumers, pointing to a rumored June 12 launch. That HP is producing channel-ready collateral at all suggests the supply chain is being prepped for a specific date.
First-order effects
- HP's resellers and enterprise buyers now have official technical documentation in hand, letting them plan inventory and deployments against a mid-June window rather than the vague 'summer' timeline HP has kept publicly.
- Retail partners like Wal-Mart can finalize shelf placement and promotions for a device whose 32GB tier is already confirmed at $599.
Second-order effects
- At $599 for 32GB, the TouchPad lands directly against Apple's iPad pricing, forcing HP to compete on webOS features like Touchstone integration and its newly announced app partners instead of undercutting on price.
- Rival Android tablet makers shipping into the same summer window face a third entrant with carrier-style retail muscle behind it, pressuring their own launch dates and bundle deals.
Third-order effects
- If the June date holds, webOS becomes the most credible non-iPad, non-Android tablet platform of the moment — and the test of whether HP's 2010 Palm acquisition can sustain a third mobile ecosystem against two incumbents.
The trend: The tablet market of 2011 is consolidating around a small set of ecosystems, with HP betting that Palm-derived webOS plus big-box retail distribution can carve out third place behind iOS and Android.