Cheap Touchpads will be available to HP employees

MAKER OF EXPENSIVE PRINTER INK HP has announced that it will make cut price Touchpads available to its employees.

An email from Stephen Dewitt, SVP and GM of WebOS at HP, states that employees will have "one last chance" to buy a Touchpad through the Employee Purchase Program (EPP). The 16GB model will cost $99 and the 32GB version will be priced at $149 with a limit of one per employee, according to Techcrunch.

Dewitt said, "I'm pleased to share that starting at 9:00am (Pacific Time) on Wednesday, September 28th, HP employees in the United States will have one last chance to buy an HP TouchPad through the Employee Purchase Program on a first come first served basis."

Stock will be limited so it is unlikely that there will be enough units to go around. Even if employees don't want a Touchpad, it will be worth their while getting one to then sell it on for profit.

After what has been something of a disaster with its tablet, it will only be available through the online EPP store and won't be exchangeable for any other products.

Earlier this month we reported that HP was offering UK customers a refund to make up the difference for Touchpads and Pre 3 smartphones purchased at higher prices than the discounted amount. However, this offer did not include any purchases made by HP employees.

The move will "complete the process of clearing out inventories and winding down manufacturing operations," said Dewitt. µ