[markstahler]

Why would they start another production run for a discontinued product sold at a loss? Am I missing something or will HP come out next week and say "Surprise! Here is a great new update for the Touchpad" and start selling them for $200?

[heydenberk]

It may be that it's worthwhile to produce and sell them at $100-$150 given the sunk cost of their leftover unassembled bulk componentry.

[yumraj]

Actually this is not as far fetched as it may seem. Here's a potential scenario, building on the above, HP may have entered into contracts with manufacturers for 'n' units. When they shut it down, they had only received 'm' units, where m < n. So, they would have had to cancel contracts and pay a penalty.

Here, they see a rather unusual demand and must have made some calculation that making the original 'n' units and earning good will by doing that, per the original contracts is better (even at a loss) than breaking contract and paying the penalty at a loss of goodwill.

[megablast]

Did anyone actually think this was far fetched? I thought this guy was being totally serious, and it is the most likely event, actually discussed in the article.

[heydenberk]

This also assumes that their calculation of what's worthwhile includes less tangible stuff, like being seen as a company that is receiving and meeting a high demand for devices and growing in device market share.

[martingordon]

If that's the case, just make them and restock the HP web store. Don't come out and say you're doing another run out of charity to not leave their dear customers disappointed.

[hollerith]

they've probably bought the parts or some such.

[wmf]

It's possible that HP could sell the parts alone for over $100. But if they view the parts as a sunk cost (worth $0), it's possible that assembling TouchPads and selling them for $100 is rational.