Most Best Buy (NYSE: BBY ) stores in the metropolitan New York area have sold
out of Hewlett-Packard s (NYSE: HPQ ) TouchPad tablet computer. Other retailers
in the area have as well. That undoubtedly would be great news for the company
provided it still was the beginning of July, when the TouchPad had just released
at retail prices at or above $399. However, the tablet sold out because
retailers began liquidating the device, selling it for as little as $99 in some
cases. Hewlett-Packard announced last week that it was abandoning the mobile
market and even considering selling off its consumer PC business. The
competition has simply gotten too fierce. The tablet market is looking rough for
all competitors lusting after Apple s (NASDAQ: AAPL ) increasing iPad sales.
Research in Motion s (NASDAQ: RIMM ) PlayBook has struggled to connect with
consumers. Google s (NASDAQ: GOOG ) acquisition of Motorola (NYSE: MMI ) was met
with concern considering how that companys Xoom tablet has been received.
Leading PC makers Acer and Lenovo have both publicly stated that they think iPad
fever is going to decline, but the question is when? And why? Tablet makers cant
wait for consumers to become weary of iPad-mania and must start reconsidering
new ways to market their wares. For RIM, Google and others, its time to start
chasing the service market. Particularly retail. Hewlett-Packard should be
kicking itself right now. It sold off the subsidiary that could have made the
TouchPad a hit more than 10 years ago. VeriFone (NYSE: PAY ), the manufacturer
of electronic payment devices, is spending large sums in its push to become a
major player in the mobile payments business . VeriFone CEO Douglas Bergeron
told Bloomberg that he expects to spend as much $1 billion per year to grow
VeriFones presence in new markets. He believes theyll acquire one new company
per year for as much as $700 million alone. VeriFone already is partnering with
major players in the mobile market to expand its efforts, such as Google with
its Google Wallet mobile payment service and the VeriFone-made PAYware for
Apples iPhone. For struggling technology companies looking for a place for their
tablets, partners like VeriFone are going to be essential. Research in Motion,
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL ), Samsung (PINK: SSNLF ) and others need to stop pursuing
the consumer market and instead turn their eyes to the service industry. Their
tablets might not be flying off shelves, but as low-cost options marketed to
retailers as customer service tools and checkout tools using VeriFones already
widely used software, they can at least see a healthy return on investment. The
time to strike is now. Lowes (NYSE: LOW ) is distributing 42,000 mobile devices
for use in its stores between now and January. Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN ) and Urban
Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN ) have started using them, too. As All Things Digital
reports, though, these retailers and others are using Apples devices . Those
Apple devices arent built specifically for processing mobile payments yet.
Google already enjoys a partnership with VeriFone, so its a likely candidate for
building a relationship that sees a mobile payment-ready, Motorola-made tablet
hitting the market in 2012 or 2013. RIM and others need to seek out similar
partnerships. Its a logical alternative to waiting for the iPad to become
unpopular. As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in
any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at
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