Harvey Norman has solved the problem of its leftover stock of HP's discontinued TouchPad tablet. The retailer giant offered a fire sale of the tablets at only $99 and within hours Harvey Norman had virtually sold out of its leftover stock.

Hewlett Packard's troubled TouchPad had only been available in Harvey Norman stores a week ago on Monday but it has since been heavily discounted, with the 16GB version being sold for $99 and the 32GB being sold for only $149. HP confirmed that the TouchPad will be sold at the discounted prices through Harvey Norman and HP's online stores as long as stocks last.

Harvey Norman stores across the country started offering the discounted TouchPad this afternoon. The retailer tipped off consumers via Twitter and within an hour gadget lovers looking for a good bargain had carted off much of the retailer's stock.

A spokesman for the computer division at Harvey Norman in Broadway, Sydney said the store had nearly 200 people an hour looking for TouchPads according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

"We had basically a line up from the register to basically the back of the store ... it was an event," the spokesman said.

HP announced last week that it was discontinuing its tablet and smartphone devices. The TouchPad's future was in doubt as retailers wondered if HP would continue to support the webOS. HP had already dropped the prices of the slow selling TouchPad to $499 and $599 before the sale.

Following the announcement that HP would no longer support the device, Harvey Norman had decided to pull the device from its shelves and offered refunds for consumers who had already brought the device.

Now that prices had dropped to below a $100, consumers are rushing to buy the heavily criticized TouchPad. HP has said today that it would support customers who had purchased the device.

"We also remain committed to the webOS platform and our goal is to ensure the platform's evolution as a robust operating system for an increasingly mobile and connected world," HP said.

"Feedback from our customers and developers has been positive and we intend to enhance the platform as we explore options for webOS in today's marketplace."