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HP Slate 500 Demand Exceeds Initial Production Run, But All Things are Relative

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File this under the may or may not be true category. According to Engadget, the demand for the HP Slate 500 was “extraordinary,” according to HP. Well as the title of the post suggest, all things are relative. A source (hmm?) tells Engadget that HP only anticipated 5000 sales and that’s all that was manufactured.

Then, that extraordinary demand kicked in, supposedly with 9000 orders for the device. HP was caught so off guard that, again according to reports, the company had to reassemble the assembly line in order to fulfill those orders. This of course resulted in the delay that some users are reporting and apparently we’re looking at a six week shipping time now.

Again, we’re hearing this from reports of sources, so who knows. But we know there were some GBM users who ordered the HP Slate. Tell us your experiences in the comments, if you please.

29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. GoodThings2Life

    11/14/2010 at 5:58 pm

    I’ll have to check with my CDW rep tomorrow to see what the status of my order is, but I know the original ship date was the 11th.

    I have a hard time believing the numbers reported on this. Was I expecting iPad-level numbers? No, but I do believe the reports are purposely low-balling it for effect.

    • Amyepl

      11/15/2010 at 1:24 pm

      Hi, I am Amy at CDW Customer Relations. We would be happy to check on the eta that we have received from HP on your order. Please email the order number to [email protected] for immediate assistance. Thank you for your business!

  2. Elmstrom

    11/14/2010 at 6:37 pm

    I wiss i could order it…

  3. Philip Pickett

    11/14/2010 at 6:53 pm

    Me too if it was available in the UK I’d have been first to click the BUY button!

  4. Steve S

    11/14/2010 at 8:05 pm

    “…HP was caught so off guard that…the company had to reassemble the assembly line in order to fulfill those orders. This of course resulted in the delay that some users are reporting…”

    Warner, I’m not sure that this story makes sense. If 5000 were produced, then those units should be perfectly ready for delivery right now! But so far, I’ve seen no reports of anyone having received their order. (Of course, the forum being down these last couple of weeks isn’t helping things…)

    My delivery date is tomorrow, but I haven’t received a shipping notification so I’m not holding my breath. A QA problem of some sort seems more likely to me… maybe exascerbated by unexpected demand….

  5. delaid

    11/14/2010 at 10:15 pm

    I have been all over the cust service dept since i ordered on the 22nd. This is after being delayed with the EXOPC for months so i cancelled. I was told the story of the 5k and 9k ealier in the week from HP. Not sure if i understand how they did not know that my order was past their supply the day i ordered instead of 3WKS later. This makes me feel a big order came thru after mine and i was bumped. They still offered me $200 for my troubles but i am told del will be around Dec 15th.

  6. delaid

    11/14/2010 at 10:15 pm

    I have been all over the cust service dept since i ordered on the 22nd. This is after being delayed with the EXOPC for months so i cancelled. I was told the story of the 5k and 9k ealier in the week from HP. Not sure if i understand how they did not know that my order was past their supply the day i ordered instead of 3WKS later. This makes me feel a big order came thru after mine and i was bumped. They still offered me $200 for my troubles but i am told del will be around Dec 15th.

  7. Jeff

    11/14/2010 at 11:02 pm

    There’s more to it than demand outstripping supply. Otherwise we would have heard from someone in the first 5,000 group who would have gotten one by now. Instead, it’s delayed for everyone. I’m almost certain there was a problem with the first production run. Everything else is mostly spin by HP and FUD by ifanatics.

  8. Pinay scandal

    11/15/2010 at 12:44 am

    I hope this product doesn’t turn out to be buggy and not user friendly. I love microsoft products due to the fact that it’s cheapter than apple. this is a perfect alternative to iPAD

  9. dpeters

    11/15/2010 at 1:23 am

    I am anxiously awating the first reports on this tablet. I haven’t been this exited about a tablet for a couple of years.

    Doug

  10. dstrauss

    11/15/2010 at 4:14 am

    This just doesn’t make sense. How could you justify the development costs for a run of 5,000 at $800 each. $4,000,000 just seems paltry for a device like this. The iFanatics just claim its a netbook without a keyboard…WRONG…and Xavier’s review shows a very solid, well built and thought out device.

  11. TheWerewolf

    11/15/2010 at 8:17 am

    Mine is still showing a 13 Nov shipping date with a delivery date of 15 Nov and the date was set back on 28 Oct. So we’ll see…

    As for the iFanbois – here’s the thing – the Slate *is* a netbook without a keyboard, which means it’s a real computer that can do real tasks – as opposed to the iPad which is basically an oversized iPhone without the ability to make a phone call.

  12. Beelzebub

    11/15/2010 at 9:16 am

    All we need now is for someone to Hackintosh this thing, we’ll have all gotten what we wanted all along!

  13. Anonymous

    11/15/2010 at 2:06 pm

    I bet they got flooded with orders immediately, then had to rethink, prioritize, and internally relaunch the product in a sensible fashion. I added to my cart first thing in the morning and decided to wait until I got home to place my order and the date was already moved back that evening. That told me that people were ordering like crazy.
    If they had actually advertised the Slate through the usual channels and not tech/gadget blogs, it could have been an ipad-esque launch. Don’t be surprised in a month when the Jay-Z or Bill Gates HP Slate 500 commercial hits.

  14. Anonymous

    11/15/2010 at 2:06 pm

    I bet they got flooded with orders immediately, then had to rethink, prioritize, and internally relaunch the product in a sensible fashion. I added to my cart first thing in the morning and decided to wait until I got home to place my order and the date was already moved back that evening. That told me that people were ordering like crazy.
    If they had actually advertised the Slate through the usual channels and not tech/gadget blogs, it could have been an ipad-esque launch. Don’t be surprised in a month when the Jay-Z or Bill Gates HP Slate 500 commercial hits.

  15. dstrauss

    11/15/2010 at 3:17 pm

    TheRealCBONE – I sure hope you are right, and that we are the bleeding edge survivors of HP’s botched launch. I know nothing works as well as Steve’ reality distortion field, but trotting this thing out in hotel rooms with clumsy presentations by their mobile product manager (who didn’t even KNOW the screen resolution in teh first video) is like marrying your long term fiancee but making him where a bag over his head at the ceremony!

    I may be in a small minority, but I can’t beleive there is not a huge pent up demand for a functional Win7 slate form factor device. Just struggle with trying to make your iPad productive in a business environment (whihc I did for three months) and you’ll be begging for a system that can use Outlook, OneNote, and the rest of the MS Office suite WITHOUT COMPROMISE – AND be able to connect to and browse network shares to find your folders and files.

  16. Anonymous

    11/15/2010 at 4:30 pm

    Get a Pixel Qi screen on this thing and integrate the software ideas from The Courier and this would be a real game-changer.

  17. Alex

    11/15/2010 at 8:05 pm

    Has anyone else seen the rumor that HP is giving customers who pre-ordered the Slate a $100 dollar credit as compensation for the delay? Can anyone verify this and is so do you need to call HP to receive the credit or will it be automatic? I am so upset, I was suppose to receive my Slate today :(
    Don’t even have it yet and already going througb withdrawls.

    • W.

      11/15/2010 at 10:08 pm

      I sent an email and received no reply. After calling, the rep gave me the discount, an email confirming the discount, and a promise for an update about my unit on the 17th of November. Mine was supposed to arrive today too, so I am assuming you pre-ordered around the first day. From what I have read elsewhere, those who pre-ordered before the 1st are eligible for the discount. I am going to cross my fingers until then, but the rep told me that I probably won’t receive it until the middle of December. Given that I pre-ordered on the 1st day, the $100 is barely consoling me and preventing my cancellation.

    • dstrauss

      11/15/2010 at 10:21 pm

      I have been assured (by email) from my HP rep that I will be issued $100 credit when the Slate ships. Remains to be seen, but it is in writing. I ordered mine before noon on day one (in fact, it was a phone order because teh unit wasn’t even online yet).

  18. Steve S

    11/15/2010 at 11:19 pm

    No surprise; my delivery date has now officially passed. It will be interesting to see when it actually does get delivered

  19. Brett Gilbertson

    11/16/2010 at 1:54 am

    Even if the initial production was 5000, the production total would be way higher than that. We would be able to sell 1000 of these here in Australia without blinking. There are sooo many people desperate for an iAlternative slate at the moment… And rightly so.

    Perhaps they are trying to create some scarcity, or maybe HP is just trying to satisfy some initial curiosity. Then again, it could be just a story to keep agitated customers at bay…

  20. Steve S

    11/16/2010 at 4:34 pm

    Interesting. My delivery date appears to be moving on a day-by-day basis…

    • Unpaulie

      11/22/2010 at 12:55 pm

      Has anyone received a slate? There seems to be more to the story then not enough product….bug?

  21. Upset in Houston

    11/25/2010 at 9:14 pm

    I oredered Mine on November 3 and it came yesterday, November 24. It doesn’t work. The screen locks up and it dosen’t recognise my thumb drive.

    • Anonymous

      11/26/2010 at 8:58 pm

      Seems very strange that you received yours ahead of many who ordered before you did.

      • Upset in Houston

        11/29/2010 at 3:32 pm

        I paid the $249 express build fee. It still dosen’t work. Hp said to send it back. There is an N-Trig compatability problem with the Windows 7. Apparently the Window 7 for the rablet was specially built and not well tested.

  22. Upset in Houston

    11/25/2010 at 9:14 pm

    I oredered Mine on November 3 and it came yesterday, November 24. It doesn’t work. The screen locks up and it dosen’t recognise my thumb drive.

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