HP TouchPad Australian fire sale. Harvey Norman pulls the tablet from shelves too.

8/28 UPDATE HP TouchPad STILL IN STOCK

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HP TouchPad Australian exclusive retailer, Harvey Norman has decided to pull HP tablet from shelves, rushing the liquidation of HP’s tablet from the market barely weeks after its launch.

HP TouchPad launch on Australian market had happened only 4 days before Hewlett-Packard‘s unexpected decision to discontinue device operations, the Register reported.

Harvey Norman’s decision came even as Hewlett-Packard’s PR agency was sending review devices to technology writers, the report said.

The HP TouchPad is not currently listed on the retailer’s Web site anymore. Harvey Norman said it will offer full refund to customers who would return the tablet following the decision.

[googlead tip=”lista_mare” aliniat=”stanga”]The customers who decide to keep HP TouchPad have been warned that post-sales service would not be available. Only about 1000 HP TouchPad had been sold before the decision to pull them from the shelves was announced.

HP made the surprising announcement, which shocked the entire industry, on Thursday saying it was exiting the PC business and discontinuing operations for HP Touchpad tablet computer based on Palm’s webOS software.

It said HP board has “authorized the exploration of strategic alternatives for its Personal Systems Group” and plans to close down its webOS device business. The shocking announcement came only few days after Google agreed to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion.

HP’s decision apparently followed the poor performance of HP TouchPad just weeks into its worldwide launch. The tablet got only a small impact on the market and was unable to compete with Apple’s iPad 2 and other Android tablets in terms of both features as well as ecosystem.

Following negative market feedback, HP reduced HP TouchPad price by $100 to boost its sales, but that did not help. Best Buy and other HP retailers started complaining of more than 200,000 units lying unsold in their warehouses. In response to their complaints, HP credited Best Buy and other resellers about $100 million for their unsold inventory.

As a result of HP’s decision to exit personal computer business, the HP TouchPad was immediately on a fire sale, with retailers reducing prices drastically. 16GB and 32GB tablets prices were reduced considerably to $99 and $149 respectively.

“HP will be lowering the price of the TouchPad beginning Saturday 8/20/11. This is the lowest price ever for the TouchPad so please post it as soon as it goes live,” an HP memo had said.