By Patrick Avenell (Follow me on Twitter)

The demise of the HP TouchPad has not stirred any rival suppliers into a public panic, with none of the major tablet suppliers voicing any displeasure about the 84 per cent price erosion experienced by HP’s WebOS product in its 27-day Australian product life.

Current.com.au contacted all the major tablet suppliers to ask them whether the Harvey Norman firesale of the HP TouchPad, with around 6,000 tablets sold for $98 (16GB) and $148 (32GB), would lower consumers’ price expectations for this booming category.

We also asked suppliers if they planned on repositioning their tablets in the market in light of both this drastic devaluation and the stampede to purchase this instantly obsolete product. Full credit to Acer for actually answering the questions, with product manager, smart handheld devices, David Niu, saying that the shortlived HP TouchPad would not have a detrimental effect on the category.

"We do not believe that HP's recent price drop will tarnish the tablet category pricing at all," he said. "The discounting bears no pressure to Acer, HP's failed launch has had no effect to us."

When asked about a possible repositioning of Acer's tablets, Niu said it was not on the agenda.

"We have a highly regarded product that has received positive feedback from the media as well as from our end users.
As a result, we don't see a need to react to HP's exit strategy from the tablet market."

Elsewhere in the tablet category, responses were not so enlightening. 

Apple is the market leader, with the iPad and iPad 2 both best-sellers. Its Australian office didn't seem at all concerned that consumers were paying $98 for something they would otherwise have to pay $600 plus for.

When asked for its view on the market, an Apple spokesperson said, “I recommend you speak directly to HP,” as though HP would know more about Apple than Apple.

Over at Motorola, which supplies the Xoom brand of Android tablets, the official word was originally: “Motorola don't comment on competitor activity”. When pushed, however, we received this lengthier, though not necessarily more detailed, response:

“Whilst Motorola doesn't comment on competitor activity or news, the tablet form factor has proven to be compelling for consumers everywhere. The response to the Motorola Xoom in Australia has been really positive and due to this continued success in the Australian market our approach to delivering the best tablet experience to consumers remains unchanged,” said a spokesperson.

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It was a similar story at Asus, makers of the Transformer Android tablet, which offered a similar answer to our questions.

"Asus has confidence in its products, is excited about how its products have been received in this market and will continue on as planned,” said Australian product manager Beryl Lee.

The prize for providing the most words without actually answering the question goes to Lenovo, which will soon be releasing its IdeaPad K1 Android tablet. Rather than answering the questions posed, a local spokesperson copied and pasted a 192-word boilerplate from a previously issued press release. Here is an edited version, attributed to CEO Yuanqing Yang.

“While we won’t comment on rumour or speculation, or on specific strategic decisions by our competitors, our PC business is strong. Lenovo firmly believes there is plenty of room for profitable growth, innovation and long-term success in the PC industry if you have the right strategy, great products and strong global execution.”