Today comes news about disappointing HP TouchPad sales numbers and I am not surprised given the weak marketing they have exhibited for this product. Like RIM’s failed PlayBook the HP devices suffers from a marketing initiative that fails to connect with what consumers want in a tablet.
HP and RIM both seem to believe that selling a device on the merits of technical dimensions matters to consumers… like multitasking and “plays Flash”. Who gives a shit?
Consumers want apps, fashion, and a tablet that is perceived as fun. The TouchPad is none of these and on the app front their efforts are particularly weak with no app store and a claim of “thousands of apps” yet the ones they feature are less than inspiring. For example, their social networking category has Facebook, WordPress, and two SMS apps… SMS and WordPress as social networking? Really? No Twitter?
If they don’t have a large app catalog then so be it but don’t focus on it as a feature which only serves to demonstrate the deficiency. Go all in on HTML5 and feature web apps that negate the need for downloadable apps but even then stay away from the technical discussion that consumers really don’t care about.
What is especially irritating about the TouchPad is that it actually looks like a really slick tablet and with aggressive pricing, a carrier strategy, and a less sucky marketing campaign they could probably do pretty well with it.
