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Kindle Fire Will Crush Other Android Tablets, May Increase iPad Sales Say Analysts

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In newly released research notes, a pair of analysts have praise for both Apple and Amazon's tablet efforts. They note that the Kindle Fire appears to be doing extremely well, though it is not challenging the iPad directly. In fact, Fire sales could indirectly encourage iPad purchases in the long run.

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Evercore Partners' Robert Cihra writes in a note obtained by Apple 2.0:
While Amazon's Kindle Fire has come out of the gates strong, as expected, we see Apple maintaining its competitive lead, if anything accentuated by what now looks like the only tablet to so far mount any credible iPad challenge apparently needing to do so by selling at cost; not to mention Amazon's success may just vaporize other "for profit" Android tablet OEM roadmaps (e.g., we est Amazon 50% of all Android tablets in CY12). Meanwhile Apple goes on as the only vendor able to cream off the most profitable segment of each market it targets, whether tablet, smartphone or PC.
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At the same time, JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz (and the Apple executives that he met with) feel that Apple is not seeing pressure from the Kindle Fire and that they are of the belief that current Fire owners "could gravitate to more feature-rich experiences" later on with the Fire acting as a "gateway drug".

Darrell Etherington, writing for GigaOm:
I think Apple's optimistic outlook should pan out, however, as long as one thing remains true: tablets continue to encroach upon and replace PCs as primary computing devices for general users. In that case, the Kindle Fire and the iPad likely will enter into a mutually beneficial orbit, with the cheaper device's drawing in first-time tablet users and the iPad's acting as a sort of graduation gift for when they opt to use tablets as their main computers.
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When the Kindle Fire launched, Apple executives said they welcomed the entry of the Fire to the market for its ability to further fragment the Android ecosystem and its ability to put enormous price pressure on other tablets. The popularity of the Kindle Fire seems to affirm Steve Jobs' belief in an end-to-end software-and-hardware ecosystem -- something that no companies other than Apple and Amazon have been able to effectively assemble.

Article Link: Kindle Fire Will Crush Other Android Tablets, May Increase iPad Sales Say Analysts
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/05/kindle-fire-will-crush-other-android-tablets-may-increase-ipad-sales-say-analysts/
I saw a Fire at a brick and mortar big-box store this weekend, and was blown away. Not because it was all too impressive, but because tapping the word "Web" doesn't let you use the awesome Silk browser, rather it shows you a video of what browsing would be like.
 
Good for Amazon and Apple. Good to see a decent Android tablet. May the best tablet win!
 
At the same time, JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz (and the Apple executives that he met with) feel that Apple is not seeing pressure from the Kindle Fire and that they are of the belief that current Fire owners "could gravitate to more feature-rich experiences" later on with the Fire acting as a "gateway drug".

Sorry - were Apple reps supposed to freak out and cry about Amazon's tablet. Of course they are going to maintain that the Kindle Fire isn't a threat or that they don't feel pressure.
 
Kindle Fire is the netbook of tablets. Might be ok for awhile but then people will seek better quality version of it (iPad).
 
"At the same time, JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz (and the Apple executives that he met with) feel that Apple is not seeing pressure from the Kindle Fire..."

Maybe that's because the Fire has been in consumers hands for about 2 weeks?! Sheeeeeez. Let's wait a few months.




The wife has an iPad, a Kindle, and I got her a Kindle Fire ($199) the other day.

She says the Fire is awesome. I can't stress the word "awesome" enough other than bolds, italics, etc. which would be annoying. She said it's the fastest tablet-ish device she's used and thinks the browser is much better than the iPad.

2nd...she LOVES her Kindle...has owned it for 2 years I think...she's a huge book reader.

3rd...she likes the iPad...but (like me) feels browsing websites (especially shopping sites) is fair...no flash support, pull down menus/choices within the site (like a clothes store trying to choose options) is really rough. She also feels that for $500+, it's essentially an email reader and light surfing (looking up weather, reading some articles) machine...screen is too harsh on the eyes to stare at.

Maybe iPad 3 will finally get the browser right. Would be nice if the iPad 3 were significantly cheaper.

Would be nice to see a Fire that is larger more surfing use cases.
 
If i look at both devices as purely a content consumption device Amazons Kindle Fire is a attractive alternative to the iPad.

The Apple App store is what makes my iOS devices great and in my opinion no other app store comes close, it's just a shame the 'Mac" app store isn't that great at the moment.
 
ericinboston said:
The wife has an iPad, a Kindle, and I got her a Kindle Fire ($199) the other day.

She says the Fire is awesome. I can't stress the word "awesome" enough other than bolds, italics, etc. which would be annoying. She said it's the fastest tablet-ish device she's used and thinks the browser is much better than the iPad.

2nd...she LOVES her Kindle...has owned it for 2 years I think...she's a huge book reader.

3rd...she likes the iPad...but (like me) feels browsing websites (especially shopping sites) is fair...no flash support, pull down menus/choices within the site (like a clothes store trying to choose options) is really rough. She also feels that for $500+, it's essentially an email reader and light surfing (looking up weather, reading some articles) machine...screen is too harsh on the eyes to stare at.

Maybe iPad 3 will finally get the browser right. Would be nice if the iPad 3 were significantly cheaper.

Would be nice to see a Fire that is larger more surfing use cases.
Click to expand...

1) The Kindle Fire's browser, faster than the iPad's? Something is very, very wrong with your iPad, I am afraid.

2) Don't get too comfortable with Flash on the tablet - this is the last version that Adobe will make - they have abandoned Flash on mobile devices.
 
I like the Fire = Netbooks / iPad = Notebooks for replacement scales. I could also see the Fire as a popular item to get kids, since it's lower price point makes it a fair compromise between a full-featured iPad and a smaller-screened iPod Touch.

I've been an iPad user for about a month, and I'm completely sold on the experience. Web browsing is fantastic (I rarely ever miss the laptop or Flash access), remote-desktop software is great to keep access to all my files on the go, and I don't know where people keep getting this "eye strain" argument from, but I love reading on my iPad. I've read several books on the Kindle App and iBooks app in the last few weeks and feel ready to start moving away from paper books entirely.
 
DouchGod said:
If i look at both devices as purely a content consumption device Amazons Kindle Fire is a attractive alternative to the iPad.

The Apple App store is what makes my iOS devices great and in my opinion no other app store comes close,
Click to expand...

You've just taken away any reason to actually go for the alternative. Might as well just get an iPad then.

What we have here is an iPod situation. It's becoming clearer day by day.
 
So far I'm more impressed with the Nook Color and Tablet than the Kindle Fire (tried both at the store).

Seems like these are the two in DIRECT competition - the other Android ones are "also rans" and the iPad is the one to beat as far as full sized tablets.
 
I saw one over the weekend and thought it looked great but felt cheaply made compared the iPad 2 which feels rock solid though a little slippery in ones hands. I use my iPad 2 for quite a few things other than checking email or surfing the internet so for me the Kindle Fire falls short. Granted if i were just consuming media it would be perfect, especially for its entry price. However for a person who needs a little more muscle the iPad 2 gets my vote.
 
i love my iPad2. But if I were in the 7" market, I dont know why people havent been praising Nook. It has more memory, it has an SD slot, already has Netflix and Hulo, and it has other features that are better than Fire.
 
The whole "graduation" upsell is possible in theory. But as a marketer myself, it's harder to do it when the graduation is between two competing software/service ecosystems. This is part of the reason why Apple's retainment is so high. Once you buy into their ecosystem, it's hard to get out of it. Because you've invested X amount of dollars into software and content that is only available in that ecosystem.

The situation is no different with Amazon. Apple may be in for a rude awakening if people will be so quick to switch ecosystems from Amazon to theirs when they're "ready". It would be interesting to see Amazon create Fire "Pro" that more squarely competes with the iPad, and keeps users moving vertically within the ecosystem.
 
samcraig said:
At the same time, JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz (and the Apple executives that he met with) feel that Apple is not seeing pressure from the Kindle Fire and that they are of the belief that current Fire owners "could gravitate to more feature-rich experiences" later on with the Fire acting as a "gateway drug".

Sorry - were Apple reps supposed to freak out and cry about Amazon's tablet. Of course they are going to maintain that the Kindle Fire isn't a threat or that they don't feel pressure.
Click to expand...

We'll know when they feel it is a threat. They'll sue Amazon.

gkarris said:
So far I'm more impressed with the Nook Color and Tablet than the Kindle Fire (tried both at the store).

Seems like these are the two in DIRECT competition - the other Android ones are "also rans" and the iPad is the one to beat as far as full sized tablets.
Click to expand...

This. They aren't in direct competition with the iPad.
 
Unless Amazon completely dropped the ball with the Fire it was always going to be a big hit. What I find more fascinating is the potential for Android to balkanize. Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Baidu in China are all Android balkan states. Once the Motorola purchase goes through and the inevitable rise of Moto phones it’s going to be hard for Samnsung, HTC, et. al., not to be tempted to fork Android themselves in order to create brand loyalty/stickiness. Ditto the carriers, with the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich and the ability for users to remove carrier crapware how long before AT&T, Sprint or Vodaphone decides to fork Android so they can keep their revenue stream?

I wouldn’t be surprised if by 2014 Android had 65-70% of the smartphone market, but completely balkanized with no one interest having more than 30% share. It’s going to be an utter mess. And you thought fragmentation was bad.

ericinboston said:
Maybe iPad 3 will finally get the browser right. Would be nice if the iPad 3 were significantly cheaper.
Click to expand...

The browser is first-class, there is no better browser on a tablet device period, the drop down menus issues are the fault of lazy developers who assume their work is seen only on desktop machines anymore.
 
Matthew Yohe said:
I saw a Fire at a brick and mortar big-box store this weekend, and was blown away. Not because it was all too impressive, but because tapping the word "Web" doesn't let you use the awesome Silk browser, rather it shows you a video of what browsing would be like.
Click to expand...

That's just how Best Buy (and other stores) have it configured. It can be displayed in a demo mode rather than let people actually use the device. Not a great idea for those who really want to play with it.

Having used one, I came away fairly impressed. As the article and others have said, it's not really a competitior to the iPad as much as it creates another segment.

For $200, it's a nice media consumption device.
 
I have 2 Kindle Fires for the kids and my wife has an iPad she uses for Fairy Garden on Facebook. For media consumption, the iPad doesn't even compete. iTunes has been a rolling mess since inception. The whisper sync is very cool and it gets used all the time. Free apps are also very nice.

I don't buy the apple app store argument, because i see no use for 98% of the apps that are out there. If you buy the tablet for apps you would actually use, i suspect there is very little if any difference. At least with Amazon i don't have to pay for crap i won't ever use.

Why buy a tablet at all? Its a solution in search of a problem.

That being said, if you wanted hardware/horsepower, which I do, I would for for the Asus Transformer Prime 64G + 32G micro SD + Keyboard doc for like 15-16 hours battery life.
 
ravenvii said:
1) The Kindle Fire's browser, faster than the iPad's? Something is very, very wrong with your iPad, I am afraid.

2) Don't get too comfortable with Flash on the tablet - this is the last version that Adobe will make - they have abandoned Flash on mobile devices.
Click to expand...

Well, we don't go looking for Flash sites. :) So many sites use Flash that Flash is household name.

I can care less what a website uses to power its experience...but I really am not impressed with iPad's rendering of websites 100% the way they are supposed to be used (LLBean, Amazon, Boston.com and it's Comments area, and more sites).

The iPad, in general, money aside, is a pretty nice tablet. But to me/us, it's still pricey, up until weeks ago forced me to use a computer often, and has serious storage limitations at 16GB for $500 for a device that is supposed to store a lot of my music, vids, and other goodies.
 
Matthew Yohe said:
I saw a Fire at a brick and mortar big-box store this weekend, and was blown away. Not because it was all too impressive, but because tapping the word "Web" doesn't let you use the awesome Silk browser, rather it shows you a video of what browsing would be like.
Click to expand...

I imagine they've set up the demo unit like that because most department stores don't have WiFi.
 
wytworm said:
I have 2 Kindle Fires for the kids and my wife has an iPad she uses for Fairy Garden on Facebook. For media consumption, the iPad doesn't even compete. iTunes has been a rolling mess since inception. The whisper sync is very cool and it gets used all the time. Free apps are also very nice.

I don't buy the apple app store argument, because i see no use for 98% of the apps that are out there. If you buy the tablet for apps you would actually use, i suspect there is very little if any difference. At least with Amazon i don't have to pay for crap i won't ever use.

Why buy a tablet at all? Its a solution in search of a problem.

That being said, if you wanted hardware/horsepower, which I do, I would for for the Asus Transformer Prime 64G + 32G micro SD + Keyboard doc for like 15-16 hours battery life.
Click to expand...

The Asus Transformer got a good write up on AnandTech. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5163/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-nvidia-tegra-3-review

He called it the best Android tablet out there.
 
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