Retailers everywhere have stopped selling the new HP Chromebook 11, effective immediately. Best Buy store managers were sent a memo which read, in part, “Stores should stop selling the HP Chromebook 11 effective immediately”. This removal from the retail space is widespread, with Amazon and other retailers also pulling the item from their product listings.
The device is also gone from the Play Store devices page. The Best Buy memo notes that all stock should be pulled, and stored in a secure location in their warehouse. We’ve not heard of any issue with malfunction, or any type of fires starting with the device, so this is all very curious. Amazon’s listing notes the device is not available directly because “customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it’s described here.”
While the newest ARM Chromebook isn’t the most profound device on the market, it certainly hasn’t exploded in anyone’s face. With no explanation, we’re left to wonder just why the HP Chromebook was pulled from store shelves, both physically and electronically. The device has simply disappeared, gone from the Best Buy website, gone from the Play Store, and unavailable via Amazon. It has also been removed from the HP Chrome OS section of their website, though the bigger Chromebook 14 is still around.
With no information regarding fires or harmful malfunction — and in today’s world of Reddit and Twitter, we’d like to think that info would have worked its way out — we wonder if HP and Google failed to get a certification. Maybe they didn’t actually have FCC compliance, or further testing caught an issue ahead of time. We don’t know yet, but we’ll be sure to update you accordingly when we do.
Update: In a statement to SlashGear, HP notes that the reason for such a widespread removal from retail shelves was due to chargers overheating. Users were reporting overheating issues with the included charger, and HP has also recommended that owners of their Chromebook 11 stop using the included chargers immediately:
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.
I haven’t purchased an HP product since the time they hired/fired Mark Turd. HP has been slowly circling the drain ever since. Bill and Dave insured excellent products…those that followed only looked to make a quick buck.