• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, July 1, 2011

With the arrival of the HP TouchPad, another iPad challenger debuts today, facing a familiar catch-22: how to get developers to write apps for its tablet without a proven user base, and how to attract buyers without a large catalog of apps. For Hewlett-Packard, that may be especially tough since it runs the webOS operating system it picked up through its 2010 acquisition of Palm.

The problem is that hardly anyone's using the webOS platform, which had just 2.6% of the smartphone market as of April, down from 3.2% in January, according to comScore. So even though the proportion of smartphone users is growing, webOS' share of the business is shrinking. That tiny slice of the market doesn't provide much of a launching pad for the TouchPad.

The 300 dedicated apps, and more than 6,000 webOS smartphone apps that can play on the H-P tablet, pale by comparison with the more than 400,000 iOS apps, including 100,000 for the iPad, and 200,000 Android apps. Putting aside the huge lead Apple and Google have in apps, H-P is well behind in the tablet race as well, leading it to play catch-up with the likes of Samsung, Motorola, and Blackberry-maker Research in Motion as well.

Richard Kerris, the H-P executive in charge of developer relations, admitted as much when he told The Wall Street Journal, "We know we're the fifth man in a four-man race." On top of that, the TouchPad is entering the tablet fray to mixed reviews, with reviewers noting that while the device is app-light, it's bulkier than rivals like the iPad and Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Given the uphill battle H-P is facing, one way to try gain a foothold would be to undercut its competitors on price. But the TouchPad starts at $499, the same as the two models just mentioned as well as the RIM PlayBook. If the company hasn't caught up with the sleek second-generation releases of the iPad or Galaxy Tab, why shouldn't the pricing reflect that? Given its clout as the world's largest PC maker, H-P should have the leverage to negotiate with retailers in that regard.

The Journal reports H-P has been laying the groundwork for the TouchPad launch for months, prepping sales staff, working closely with retail partners like Best Buy, and creating incentive programs for resellers. On the advertising front, H-P has enlisted the irrepressible Russell Brand to hawk the TouchPad in a campaign carrying the tag line "Works Like Nothing Else."

An initial spot on the H-P home page shows Brand, seated at a piano, demonstrating how easy it is to use the device to keep up with all aspects of life back in his home country ("What's happening in the world of English dentistry?"), swiping away on the touchscreen.

Brand may be the celeb du jour, but his eccentric appeal won't likely be enough to overcome the TouchPad's obstacles to big sales. After all, what did U2 do for BlackBerry?