HP’s recently launched tablet, the TouchPad, didn’t exactly get the type of reviews the company thought it deserved. Jon Rubinstein, the head of Palm, went so far as to claim that webOS is like Mac OS X, which had a rough start, but then grew up to become the best desktop operating system on the planet. All that aside, from a pure business point of view, how much money is making off each TouchPad? According to the folks at iSuppli the TouchPad is made up of around $318 worth of components, note: we’re talking about the 32 GB model. Add the $10 it takes to pay overworked Chinese children to build the damn thing, and it comes out to $328. How does that stack up against the Apple iPad 2? Back in March iSuppli said the 32 GB 3G enabled iPad was made up of $326.60 worth of metal and silicon, add the $10 labor fee and it bubbles up to $336.60. We’re looking at less than a $10 difference in bill of materials, probably closer to $0 because of the iPad’s 3G capabilities, yet these two tablets are drastically different.
“The TouchPad in some ways does closely resemble the original iPad, with its use of the same LG display Apple used in the first-generation iPad, and by initially offering a product that only employs Wi-Fi as its exclusive wireless connection. However, there are major differences between the two platforms. For example, unlike the iPad, the TouchPad does not try to push the design envelope with an ultrathin form factor or in the use of exotic materials. HP’s choice of plastic enclosure adds to the increased thickness of the device, which also results in the density of the electronic design being much lower compared with Apple products. Furthermore, the TouchPad also features a built-in wireless charging system, something we haven’t seen in other tablets to date.” — Andrew Rassweiler, Senior Director at iSuppli
Here’s a feature request for the TouchPad 2: Make it less than 10 mm thin and make the operating system stop s-t-t-t-uttering.