HP is said to be producing one final run of their discontinued TouchPad tablet to the tune of up to 200,000 units. The company had previously hinted that there could be more tablets on the way to satisfy customer demand, but DigiTimes (via PreCentral) says that is only half the story.

A second and likely final wave of TouchPads is expected in late October with anywhere between 100,000 to 200,000 units being produced. The reason for another production run has little to do with meeting customer demand and a lot more to do with clearing out excess inventory from component suppliers.

HP likely signed agreements with multiple part suppliers and breaching those contracts would be a costly endeavor. Furthermore, HP wouldn't want to burn bridges with suppliers for future production, granted they decide to keep their PC business.

The DigiTimes article also notes that HP has taken delivery of 800,000 to 900,000 TouchPads since its inception. That's a far cry from the millions of iPads that Apple has sold, but PreCentral believes that by the time that production finally halts for good, it's possibly enough for the number two spot ahead of any single Android tablet.

If you haven't heard by now, HP discontinued their TouchPad tablet after less than two months on the market. A sharp drop in price to $99 for the 16GB model and $149 for the 32GB model sparked a fire sale that saw tablets fly off store shelves at a record pace. HP addressed many common questions on their blog last week and has even started giving away select TouchPad apps.