HP TouchPad gets one last run after proving hit with bargain hunters

Reminiscent of basketball legend Michael Jordan’s numerous (and distinctly unevenly successful) comebacks, HP have announced that there will be one last batch of their TouchPad tablet device before it is finally discontinued for good.

Prices on the tablets had been slashed massively after it emerged that HP was dropping the TouchPad, and it seems like the move has given the thing a new lease of life. Stores sold out of the TouchPad (it was even rumoured to be the second-most popular tablet in the world after the iPad), and, as a result, HP are producing one last “limited” batch to flog off to consumers looking for a good deal.

And a good deal it would be: We remember having a play with the TouchPad at this year’s Gadget Show, and being impressed with the webOS operating system, which merged all kinds of applications into easily accessible, layered groups. Its dimensions were man/handbag-friendly, and the multi-touch technology worked well enough to establish the HP TouchPad as a genuine competitor to the iPad. Alas, in HP’s shakeup (they bought British software company Autonomy for £6.3bn ($10.3bn)), after which the company aims to focus on platforms and software rather than hardware, the TouchPad wasn’t viewed with as much enthusiasm anymore and was swiftly discontinued.

In a blog post published yesterday, HP confirmed that more TouchPad would be built, but couldn’t say how many or when they would hit the stores. There would, however, be an order limit to one unit per person so as to avoid people bulk-buying and selling them off on eBay.