Has the reign of the Kindle Fire burned out?

lcseds said:

The Kindle Fire rocks for what it was meant to do. It was NEVER meant to compete with the iPad.

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Apparently you never saw those Kindle Fire ads comparing themselves to the iPad. "I bought all three for less than you paid for that."

Buckeyestar said:

Apparently you never saw those Kindle Fire ads comparing themselves to the iPad. "I bought all three for less than you paid for that."

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Yeah--exactly.

I read somewhere that Amazon has halted e ink orders because they're not even selling very many "regular" Kindles these days. Supposedly they have 4 months worth of e ink screen supply in their warehouses and the demand is slowing way down.

I think people have accepted that a multi functional tablet with a color LCD is perfectly acceptable for e reading. Maybe not quite as easy on the eyes, but has a lot more to offer content-wise. And the only color LCD tablet that the majority of people want right now is the iPad--which has a Kindle app and is compatible with most of Amazon's other stuff (except maybe their VOD service.) So do you buy a much more functional iPad that can be a Kindle too, or do you buy a cheap Fire? Seems like the people have made their choice.

I think people realize it is a limited hardware device for a limited market.
So much it could not do, they had to start looking for a second device.

"Cheep will cost you twice"

Italianblend said:

My dad has a kindle fire and I am impressed with it for the price. It's quality for $200. Not everybody has $500 to spend on the pad, and this feels like a star wars vs star trek debate.

It's interesting that the market % amazon has means something to some of you.

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I found several A-Tabs with more features for same price.
I did not find the Fire worth the $200 by a long shot.

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spiderman0616 said:

I read somewhere that Amazon has halted e ink orders because they're not even selling very many "regular" Kindles these days. Supposedly they have 4 months worth of e ink screen supply in their warehouses and the demand is slowing way down.

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True!
Saw an ad for the eInk Kindles, and that Target is dropping all Kindles suggest they all are suffering loss of market interest.

It is what it is, a cheap and for the price it isnt all that bad, in fact if it weren't for the fire I wouldn't have bought a xoom or Ipswich.

At this point though the full featured tablets are getting cheaper (android tablets) the kindle isnt as groundbreaking price wise. I got a xoom for example for 100 more with ICS support, quadruple the space, camera, higher resolution screen, full google play (store) support.

Then there is the hp touchpad and blackberry playbook that are dirt cheap with a much more full experience.

Amazon app store very slow to develop, which I think was a mistake to not support google play (android marketplace).

I dont think this is a issue of the 7 inch size not selling its just the fact other android tablets are getting cheaper with more features for just a bit more than the fire.

When the fire was released the only option was $500 tablets so broke a price barrier at that time.

btw, Im not so sure about these articles one week they say the fire is doing great the next week its suffering. I think it is somewhere in between, I think it has its own little market and is doing ok but amazon needs to update it to stay relevant in the segment and do it soon. As said its big benefit (price) is not there anymore.

iEvolution said:

It is it is, a cheap and for the price it isnt all that bad, in fact if it weren't for the fire I wouldn't have bought a xoom or Ipswich.

At this point though the full featured tablets are getting cheaper (android tablets) the kindle isnt as groundbreaking price wise. I got a xoom for example for 100 more with ICS support, quadruple the space, camera, higher resolution screen, full google play (store) support.

Then there is the hp touchpad and blackberry playbook that are dirt cheap with a much more full experience.

Amazon app store very slow to develop, which I think was a mistake to not support google play (android marketplace).

I dont think this is a issue of the 7 inch size not selling its just the fact other android tablets are getting cheaper with more features for just a bit more than the fire.

When the fire was released the only option was $500 tablets so broke a price barrier at that time.

btw, Im not so sure about these articles one week they say the fire is doing great the next week its suffering. I think it is somewhere in between, I think it has its own little market and is doing ok but amazon needs to update it to stay relevant in the segment and do it soon. As said its big benefit (price) is not there anymore.

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But this is where Amazon's gamble could hurt them. Yes, they need to update it, and yes, I think a more "magazine sized" Fire would sell. But Amazon is not making money on these and they have shareholders to please.

If you were selling a gazillion of them, the shareholders would probably be happier because they're going to make it up on content. But if you're selling less than a million a quarter and losing money on each one, how can you justify making a BIGGER one? Selling few units and losing money on each one is not going to help Amazon make up the difference on content, which is what they were counting on with the Kindle Fire.

I personally thought Amazon's strategy was going to work and that I would be seeing a LOT more Kindle Fires out in the wild by now, but in all honesty, I see very very few. That's only anecdotal evidence of course. I'd say in general I see lots of iPads, e ink Kindles (especially the old school first gen ones for some reason) and even some Nooks. Very seldom do I see a Kindle Fire. I think I get a good sampling because I ride a commuter train to and from Chicago every day.

My theory:
a) The Kindle Fire audience is nowhere near the same thing as the general tablet audience.

b) Even if it was the same audience, people want the iPad, not the Fire.

c) The e ink Kindles were built so well that nobody really sees a need to upgrade them.

spiderman0616 said:

The e ink Kindles were built so well that nobody really sees a need to upgrade them.

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So true. I have a third generation kindle, aka the kindle keyboard, and I have no plans on replacing it anytime soon. It is still working perfectly. I mean, all I do on it is read books, it serves its purpose perfectly. I plan on using my kindle to read until it breaks. And then I'll upgrade to a new kindle.
Having both an iPad and a kindle seems a bit much, but my eyes can't handle hours and hours of the iPad screen.

Anti-Lucifer said:

If you've ever used a Kindle Fire, you would know that there is no comparison to an iPad.

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Agreed. I like the Kindle Fire, but it's just a different kind of thing than the iPad.

The Kindle Fire screen is to small and Amazon released it in a very buggy state way before it was ready. Bugginess has been only marginally improved.

No. There will always be a market for a $200 tablet with a quality ecosystem.