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Frommer: Sorry, But HP's TouchPad Is No Threat To Apple's iPad

Dan Frommer, On Wednesday February 9, 2011, 3:05 pm

HP unveiled its iPad clone, the TouchPad today.

While the TouchPad is not a complete disaster -- it looks pretty nice, and seems to have good software -- it is NOT a significant threat to Apple's iPad.

We still expect Apple to dominate the tablet market for years to come.

Why isn't HP a threat?

It's not better than the iPad -- especially the improved iPad 2 that is already in production. The hardware and software need to be MUCH BETTER than the iPad to stand out -- a "leapfrog" product -- and they're not. Sure, there is nifty wireless "Touchstone" charging. But that's not a big deal.

No developer advantage. Sure, "Angry Birds" is coming to the TouchPad. And the Kindle app. But this is HP playing catch-up to Apple -- not leading. The TouchPad developer ecosystem is WAY behind iOS.

No distribution advantage. Apple has the Apple Store. Android has a massive partner network. HP doesn't have much.

No price advantage. At least nothing that HP wanted to announce today.

Sure, some people will buy the HP TouchPad, because some people buy everything. But we do NOT see a serious threat to the iPad here.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sorry-But-HPs-TouchPad-Is-No-siliconalley-3529300584.html?x=0&.v=5