I suspect this is just HP clearing out the supply chain of already purchased parts and units still at the factory. HP's cost is probably just a few dollars per unit to ship and possibly assemble them.
I find it hard to believe anyone approved an entirely new order of parts at $300 BOM just to sell them for $99.
You may be right, but if it's not an ops guy getting fired, then it should be a PR guy. I mean, look at this:
"Before I share, let me first say thank you for enthusiasm for this product. Since we announced the price drop, the number of inquiries about the product and the speed at which it disappeared from inventory has been stunning. I think it’s safe to say we were pleasantly surprised by the response.
Despite announcing an end to manufacturing webOS hardware, we have decided to produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand."
They didn't decide to produce one last run to meet unfulfilled demand, they're producing one last run to get rid of unused parts. Just put the new devices up on the store and send out a tweet; don't spin this like some grand gesture to please your adoring fans.
You're expecting a PR person not to spin it like some grand gesture? Have you ever heard any company say anything to the effect of, "well, we already paid for a bunch of parts, so we might as well?"
I don't understand all the down-votes. This seems like a valid and well-meant contribution to the discussion, being voted down because it presents something slightly contrarian. Why is martingordon's suggestion any more unworthy of HN than the earlier suggestion that the person responsible for this new run be fired? They're both looking at this news inquisitively, trying to understand the forces behind the public actions of HP following their recent mutation.
If you're voting it down, just be sure you're not doing so out of disagreement with the points raised.
If I cared enough about the space to make a karma-based threading system, I would attempt to come up with a way to differentiate disagreement with contribution score (aka karma).
Sometimes people feel the need to register disagreement but can't be bothered to write a specific reply as to why, and while it sucks that many people do that via downvoting the contribution score, it is understandable why they do it and there is probably a better fix for it than just telling them they shouldn't do it (they won't listen).
Hiding a valuable contribution because you disagree with it probably isn't the intended purpose of the system. Hiding something that lessens the quality of the conversation, independent of the skew it takes, makes more sense.
It doesn't matter what the common practice is. What matters is preserving the integrity of the discussion.
what's BOM? Bill of Materials. Got it. BoM. Just before reading your comment I had bought a 32 gb for $270. Guess that's not a bad deal. Hopefully I can at least skype on it.
I find it hard to believe anyone approved an entirely new order of parts at $300 BOM just to sell them for $99.