HP was to have launched the HP Chromebook 11 in Canada on November 8 but it failed to materialize on the appointed day. Best Buy and Future Shop both began to take pre-orders on that day with an expected availability date of November 15, 2013. They have since stopped taking pre-orders and pulled the listings down from their website. And the disappearance of the HP Chromebook 11 does not appear to be limited to Canada.
The Verge reports that, south of the border, Best Buy has also stopped selling the HP Chromebook 11. A leaked internal memo addressed to Best Buy managers provides the following instructions:
“Stores should stop selling the HP Chromebook 11 effective immediately … Partner with Sales Support to pull the product off the sales floor to a secure location in the warehouse.”
The HP Chromebook 11 has also been pulled down from HP’s own U.S. website as well as Amazon and the Google Play store in the U.S.
It is not clear if all of these events are related but it would be quite the coincidence if they were not. Also not immediately clear is what could have caused this sudden decision. Did HP uncover some kind of hardware issue that needs to be addressed before sales can resume?
We’ll update this story when more information is available.
Update: The Verge now reports that sources have told it that HP and Google have indeed instructed Best Buy and presumably other retailers to halt sales and delist the HP Chromebook 11 from their websites.
Update #2: HP and Google have now released a statement confirming that they have halted sales. The reason is a charger that can over-heat during use. Here is the full statement:
Google and HP are pausing sales of the HP Chromebook 11 after receiving a small number of user reports that some chargers included with the device have been damaged due to over-heating during use. We are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to identify the appropriate corrective action, and will provide additional information and instructions as soon as we can.
In the meantime, customers who have purchased an HP Chromebook 11 should not use the original charger provided with the product. In the interim they may continue using their HP Chromebook 11 with any other Underwriters Laboratories-listed micro-USB charger, for example one provided with a tablet or smartphone. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Sources : The Verge // Google Chrome Blog