[8] On August 18, 2011, 49 days after the TouchPad was launched in the United States, HP announced that it would discontinue all current devices running webOS.

Remaining TouchPad stock received substantial price reductions, and quickly sold out.

[10] Initial sales of the device sold 25,000 of 270,000 units, and did not meet HP's expectations, rapidly becoming overshadowed by the launch of the iPad 2 in March.

[12] Industry commentators suggested that the lack of apps for the platform and lackluster advertising was hindering sales.

"[15] Some years later, a member of the development team described the device as being made from "cast-off reject iPad parts.

[23] HP TouchPad stock immediately sold out domestically and overseas from consumers rushing to take advantage of the price promotion.

Following this successful sale,[24] and to clear out their component suppliers' inventories of touch panels, batteries, and chassis,[25] HP announced on August 30 that it would make another production run of the TouchPad.

[26] These units were used to fulfill existing orders to businesses like Tiger Direct and Best Buy, in bundles with a set price of $249.99 and $299.99.

[27] Following Meg Whitman's appointment as CEO of HP, in conjunction with an announcement of the company's plans to continue developing webOS as an open-source operating system, she said that the company would continue using the OS in devices, specifically resuming its use in tablets.

The TouchPad can receive calls and text messages forwarded from any phone using a Palm Profile.

[4] The HP TouchPad has a 9.7 inch, 1024×768 pixel, Gorilla Glass multitouch capacitive touch screen.

The TouchPad's virtual keyboard can be configured to one of four preset sizes, and has a number row on top of the common QWERTY layout.

[37][38] This included the "HP TouchPad 4G", with a faster 1.5 GHz processor, 32 GB of flash memory, integrated A-GPS, and AT&T 3.5G HSPA+ wireless mobile broadband capabilities; demo models were displayed at a press show, but it was not released for sale,[37][39] except to HP employees, where it later appeared on eBay and craigslist.

In August, a white model with 64 GB of flash memory, a 1.5 GHz processor and Wi-Fi – but without 3.5G – was built in small quantities and shipped.

[5][37][40] A small number of "TouchPad Go" models (codenamed "Opal") with a 7-inch display, 32 GB of flash memory, a 1.5 GHz processor, and cellular capabilities were made, some of which sent to technology review websites.

[41][42][43] The TouchPad was sold with the webOS operating system, which offers video chat, wireless printing (HP printers only), email integration, ebooks, Web browsing, document editing, and access to the "HP Catalog", where additional apps can be downloaded.

webOS unobtrusively notifies users of messages, emails, and calendar agenda items, appearing on the top right of the screen, rapidly reviewed by a swipe gesture.

[52] The CyanogenMod Team received source code from HP and started working again on the TouchPad tablet port.

It was never intended for public use, but rather, to ensure that the TouchPad’s hardware would be ready for release to consumers alongside webOS 3.

In addition to Ubuntu, an alpha port of Arch Linux ARM, which in January 2012 provides full touchscreen support with GNOME 3 / LXDE, Wi-Fi access, but not Bluetooth, camera or sound can be installed using the previously mentioned moboot method.

[62] LuneOS is a Linux-based operating system, designed specifically for native execution on touch devices.

A Bluetooth wireless keyboard with typical QWERTY layout plus additional keys for special TouchPad capabilities.

David Pogue of The New York Times wrote, "It works beautifully, and conveys far more information than the iPad 2.

"[68] Matt Buchanan, also writing for Gizmodo, praised the OS interface concept as 'good conceptually' but described the performance as "slow motion... give this thing six months.

"[69] The Verge also noted poor performance, describing its interface as 'intuitive and natural' but 'sluggish, unfinished...a bit of a hard sell right now.

[72][73] The HP Touchpad's firesale had an effect on future Android tablet sales and the low pricing scheme, as compared to iPad, was used with the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7, which were commercially successful Android tablets originally priced at $199.