It is being reported today that the electronics giant retailer Harvey Norman has ordered its franchisees to pull thousands of WebOS-powered HP TouchPads off the shelves today after HP said overnight that it would no longer be producing the device. ZDNet today reported that Harvey Norman’s general manager of Computers, Ben McIntosh, said that the decision to stop selling the device was a reaction to the uncertain future of the webOS platform.
“I’m taking a very proactive view on this, rather than waiting and waiting,” McIntosh told ZDNet Australia. “Because I can’t be sure that webOS won’t be supported ongoing, I’ve instructed my franchisees to take the TouchPad off the shelves. Not because HP told me to, just because we can’t be sure if they’re going to,” McIntosh added.
Harvey Norman was the first to retail the Australian shipment of the HP TouchPad through its franchise network and also had taken delivery of 6000 units in the first shipment.
[ZDNet]