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Where the TouchPad Went Fatally Wrong

Posted by admin on September 7, 2011 None comments

HP’s (NYSE: HPQ) TouchPad tablet never sold so well as when HP announced last week that it was ceasing production of the device.

Consumers have cleaned out the market’s US$99-per-unit inventory of TouchPads.

At a time when Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) selling all the iPads it can make and manufacturers are launching new Android tablets that are making headway in the market, why did the TouchPad crash and burn?

Many factors play into the answer, falling roughly into four categories: issues with HP’s management; a lack of apps; the competition; and patience — or the lack of it.

HP’s Management and the TouchPad

Issues at the top level of HP management may have impacted the TouchPad’s future.

First, there was the taint of the firm’s previous leadership, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

The TouchPad runs on Palm’s webOS, which HP acquired when it purchased Palm under the leadership of then-CEO Mark Hurd, who left under a cloud.

Second, HP’s leadership, both C-level executives and its board of directors, seem intent on moving the company away from client products, including tablets, King told TechNewsWorld.

That combination essentially made the TouchPad “the Oliver Twist of tablets — an unwanted foundling,” he remarked.

Further, HP’s leadership may be struggling to map out a new strategy in the post-Hurd era.

“I do think that there was a question mark as to what the strategic direction should be, and whether HP is going back to its roots of being a tech-savvy company targeting the enterprise rather than the consumer,” Jeff Orr, a senior practice director at ABI Research, told TechNewsWorld.

Perhaps the most egregious error HP made with the TouchPad project was not ensuring that there were enough apps for the tablet.

Tablets are essentially consumption devices, and they rely on apps for their appeal.

For example, Apple “was able to rejuvenate what was a very stagnant tablet market to the point that it almost became a new market because of apps and iTunes,” Laura DiDio, principal at ITIC, pointed out. “If you want to take on Apple, you must have the apps.”

There are more than 90 thousand apps for the iPad, according to Apple’s website.

There are reportedly about 300 apps for the TouchPad.

Further, HP didn’t make it easy for webOS developers to create apps, Carl Howe, director anywhere consumer research at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld.

Its website for webOS devs is difficult to figure out, Howe said.

Announced in February, the TouchPad hit retail shelves in July, four months after the iPad 2′s March launch.

That’s equivalent to an eternity.

“This is a very fast-paced market,” ITIC’s DiDio said. “Apple has built up such incredible momentum and demand for the iPad.”

Should HP perhaps have rethought going into the tablet market?

“One would have thought that a company of HP’s experience, stature and obvious access to market research would have [been able] to make an informed decision on whether or not to enter the market and how best to compete against already strong and entrenched rivals like Apple, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Motorola and Samsung,” observed DiDio. “But that didn’t happen.”

It’s possible that both the TouchPad and HP, with its TouchPad program, were not yet ready for prime time.

“You have to bring as fully featured a product to market as possible; provide solid, well-designed marketing support from Day one; engage related developer communities and get them excited about the product; prepare and engage the market prior to launch; and recognize your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and have answers for them in your product,” Pund-IT’s King said.

There were complaints about the TouchPad itself, with some users reportedly returning it and demanding refunds.

Further, marketing support for the TouchPad was unproductive at best.

“HP put a lot of money into TV marketing domestically, and what was that message? That entertainers and celebrities can operate a tablet?” ABI’s Orr asked. “I don’t know if any of that made sense.”

Also, there was little market differentiation from the competition, the Yankee Group’s Howe pointed out. Users need a reason to select one manufacturer’s product over its competitors, and HP failed to make a clear distinction between the TouchPad and other tablets.

could the TouchPad have succeeded if HP had gritted its teeth and hung on? it might be possible, but we’ll never know.

It takes time to build a market, Richard Shim, a senior analyst at Display Search, told TechNewsWorld.

For example, the iPad wasn’t an overnight success. it leveraged many of the time-tested technologies used in the iPhone and built on that device’s success, brand recognition and distribution channels, Shim said.

“Generally speaking, U.S. vendors have become entirely too sensitive to immediate market reaction, to the point that any product that isn’t an immediate success is assumed to be an outright failure,” said Pund-IT’s King.

“As a result, products aren’t given the time or support that many require to become a success,” he added. “Call it IT-style ADD — Advertising Deficit Disorder. unfortunately, that’s a fatal affliction for many technologies.”

There may be life for the TouchPad yet — open source enthusiasts have launched projects to port Android and Ubuntu to the TouchPad.

At $99 a unit, the TouchPad is an inexpensive platform with which to experiment, Al Hilwa, a program director at IDC, told TechNewsWorld.

Richard Adhikari has written about high-tech for leading industry publications since the 1990s and wonders where it’s all leading to. Will implanted RFID chips in humans be the Mark of the Beast? Will nanotech solve our coming food crisis? Does Sturgeon’s Law still hold true?

The Proficiency Of The Internet Marketing For Small Business Firms

Posted by Dave Massingham on September 7, 2011 None comments

The internet has virtually flourished in this era and it certainly has provided advantages and assistance to our proceedings of living. It is vital to maximize and utilize the benefits administered to the human race by such astounding an efficient tool. Individuals and business establishments have taken advantages of the services provided by such tool. An essential method to gain benefits from these services is to advertise a small business with it. There have been several small business establishments that have improved their production and sales through utilizing the marketing proceedings of the internet.

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Using Quality SEO Copywriting to Attract Better Backlinks.

Posted by Dr. Jay Host on September 7, 2011 None comments

You won’t find an internet marketer that doesn’t know a lot about achieving top ranking in search engines. You can definitely go a different route and try something else, but it’s a proven fact that the links will be earned by your content. Your backlinks will only happen with specifically targeted content for the search engines as well as your readers who could become your link partners. …

Write for Skimmers: People that read content on the Internet are usually skimmers, who like to scan through the content instead of reading it word by word. Easy to read articles are more enticing to readers, so keep that in mind when you are writing your content. Webpages today are like billboards where people whiz by and notice only when there is something attention grabbing. Your target audience will want to return to your site because of your content being easy to read.

When somebody clicks on your website, they should find the content appealing and interesting to read. Its important to make your content have a certain flow that your readers can connect with it as well as making it stand out so others will link to your website. Don’t over-stuff your content with unnecessary keywords, but rather try to weave your ideas around the keywords you’re targeting.

Include Links to Other Resources:

You have something of value in your content to share with your visitors and using these attributes will make it simpler for you bring the important points to their attention. Your content will get the exposure it needs and will be more attractive to potential link partners.

It could a bit of time before you see any success in bringing relevant link partners to your website if you are a newcomer to SEO copywriting. But as you work at it and move ahead, you will eventually start to garner the attention of potential link partners which will prove greatly beneficial to you over time. Search engine optimization is a game that takes skill and effort to become good at, but when you cut through the chase by working smartly and by getting the right kind of backlinks, you’ll achieve faster success.

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