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Amazon Set to Unveil $199 'Kindle Fire' Tablet
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The more I think about it, if Amazon can really make a bunch of these, they will destroy the other Android apps. It will be end of Android tablets in the U.S. Initially, I'd forgotten how bad Amazon's media content is for other jurisdictions. That will save Android Tablets as they can be the low cost item for the Asia market and maybe Europe as well. But in the U.S., no tablet manufacturer can compete with a $200 price point and the Amazon ecosystem. It is the same problem that Apple's competitors are having. To compete on price, you have to have the economies of scale and price power on the components. Apple knows it is going to sell 30 million iPads, so it buys in bulk and gets great prices and first dibs for top manufacturers. When HP puts in an order for 300,000 Playbooks, it can't get the same cost savings. It also can't spread its development cost over as many sales.
Amazon knows it will sell every Fire it can make at this $200 price point. And it can make back the money it loses on those sales by content sales in the future. A pure tablet manufacturer needs to make money on the actual tablet sale. They can't compete with Amazon with that business model.
Right now regular android tablets might have an app advantage on pure android. But once the Fire OS is the dominant Android OS (which in the U.S. will be by the end of this year, assuming Fire comes out by the end of this month), then the Android developers will have to develop for it either in addition or perhaps even instead of developing for the latest Google version.
Amazon knows it will sell every Fire it can make at this $200 price point. And it can make back the money it loses on those sales by content sales in the future. A pure tablet manufacturer needs to make money on the actual tablet sale. They can't compete with Amazon with that business model.
Right now regular android tablets might have an app advantage on pure android. But once the Fire OS is the dominant Android OS (which in the U.S. will be by the end of this year, assuming Fire comes out by the end of this month), then the Android developers will have to develop for it either in addition or perhaps even instead of developing for the latest Google version.
They dropped the price to $359 where it stayed until the summer of 2009 (when rumors were circulating about the impending release of Apple's tablet) and then dropped it to $299 while introducing the Kindle DX at $489.
Remember when the original iPhone debuted at $600 back in June 2007? Components have really come down in less than 2 months!
Fair comparison.
An e-reader to a cell phone that was so disruptive to the industry that CEOs of companies without the iPhone still mention it in earning calls for being responsible for poor numbers. Cell phones carriers had a stranglehold on phone manufacturers until the iPhone came along and miss it so much (like the ability to load non-removable crapware services) they've run to the arms of Google to counteract the iPhone's popularity and clout among customers.Again - what's your point. They lowered it and then lowered it again. How terrible for the consumer. Maybe they should do the opposite and start raising the price back up?
They dropped the price to $359 where it stayed until the summer of 2009 (when rumors were circulating about the impending release of Apple's tablet) and then dropped it to $299 while introducing the Kindle DX at $489.
Fair comparison.
Makes sense to me. Not sure why others are confused.
If $100 Android tablets and the $200 Nook Color didn't destroy the market for the Fire, then the Fire isn't going to destroy the market for others that come after it.
Amazon isn't out to conquer the tablet market, any more than those newspapers who give tablets away free to longterm online subscribers.
Amazon's sole aim is to get more buyers of their services. Profit on the device sale itself is not the primary motive, unlike with Apple and other tablet sellers.
B&N is very similar, in that they don't really care how many Nooks they sell, as long as anyone who doesn't get one, does use their Nook app.
Amazon isn't out to conquer the tablet market, any more than those newspapers who give tablets away free to longterm online subscribers.
Amazon's sole aim is to get more buyers of their services. Profit on the device sale itself is not the primary motive, unlike with Apple and other tablet sellers.
B&N is very similar, in that they don't really care how many Nooks they sell, as long as anyone who doesn't get one, does use their Nook app.
Apple's ecosystem is not "locked down" or "closed", which would infer that I could only play content purchased from Apple's digital stores. That I could only buy and use peripherals manufactured buy Apple. That I could only buy software developed by Apple.
Furthermore, I think each consumer can decide for themselves what is or isn't better suited for their needs ... and so far, many more of them prefer Apple's platform and methods over more "open" competitors. People who buy iPads are the same type of users who don't want to deal with the complexities of normal computing all the time.
And that's the cool part... you don't have to use Amazon's services.
It's an Android device root it, turn on side loading and enjoy.
For the size and the price at just $199, if the battery life is good I'll give it a go this Christmas!
My girlfriend skips iPad2, just because of the low price of this device. Price drives customers.
Not only that Amazon stole a piece of market from Apple, they also created new market, because of the price.
For 200$ its great device.
Powered by AlphaEfficiency.com on GT i9000
Fair comparison.
I know what the iPhone is, I don't need a biography about it. I've had two and will possibly be getting my third if the next one is good enough.
And it absolutely is a fair comparison. We aren't comparing specs here. We have two products that are game changers in their own respect. Both of which severely overpriced in the beginning. One of them had a 33% price cut in under 2 months. The other dropped it's price over 4 years, just like most electronic devices where the cost to manufacture said product goes down. You do remember your original post, right?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-2...iller-yes-its-the-price-stupid/?tag=rtcol;pop
Amazon isn't just in battle with Apple in the tablet space. Amazon is in full assault against several of its competitors including the battle of the e-Book reader space vs Barnes & Noble and online streaming vs Netflix. The battle with Netflix is an interesting one knowing how Netflix has spiraled and how the Hollywood Studios are the ones who really control the content and market.
It is estimated Amazon is losing about $50 for every Kindle Fire sold and then recouping it with services and their products. Kindle Fire really is a walking cash register for Amazon but it is no different than Google and Apple also supplying people with their content and services.
I only have a few questions with the Kindle Fire. The first one is when we are not around a Wi-Fi spot, how seamless and quick is it to download a movie and store them locally? And the other is really about the Amazon Silk browser. I need to see real world results and comparisons with that one.
Most people think $149-$249 is about right for a tablet price which is generally less than how they cost to make. Only two tablets intrigue me this year and they look almost the same. BlackBerry PlayBook or Kindle Fire. Will the PB have the same destiny as the TouchPad? Looks like it. Great OS, slow sales, no content. RIP RIM. I will be watching for any $99 fire sale and for sure won't miss out on it if it happens. A tablet that cost literally $250-$300 to make and we get it for $149-$199 is a good deal the more I think about it no matter if I never considered tablets an absolute necessity like phones and desktop computers.
Kindle Fire an iPad killer? Yes. It's the price, stupid
By: Molly Wood
September 28, 2011 10:23 AM PDT
Amazon, not Apple, just mainstreamed the tablet market.
The company's new Kindle Fire tablet, a 7-inch touch-screen device powered by Amazon's content ecosystem and priced at just $199, may be an orange to Apple's iPad apple, but I'd argue that it's an iPad killer all the same.
On paper, the Kindle Fire has half the features of the iPad. In fact, it's almost literally half the features--here's a handy comparison chart so you can see for yourself. There's no camera, front or rear; the 8GB of onboard storage is half the amount of the base-model iPad; the Fire has no cellular options, no built-in GPS, and no Bluetooth, as the iPad does. The software options compared to the iPad are minimal, and the app library for Android still isn't nearly as robust as the iOS app library. All true facts. Doesn't matter.
There may be more strikes against the Kindle Fire, too: Amazon hasn't explicitly denied that it will block access to competing content-delivery apps like Hulu, Netflix, or any upstart e-bookstores that might want to be on the Fire, but I'd be surprised if you ever find them there. Amazon has taken a closed, proprietary approach with the Kindle line, and I think it's more than a safe bet to say that this won't be the "open" Android tablet experience you've been hearing about with the Galaxy Tabs or the Xooms of the world. Not even close, in fact.
And then, of course, there's the fact that the Kindle Fire is a 7-inch tablet in a 10-inch tablet world. All previous 7-inch competitors, from the original Galaxy Tab to the poor, doomed PlayBook have fallen by the wayside--while Steve Jobs personally mocked them as "dead on arrival", and once gruesomely suggested you'd have to file down your fingers to live with one.
Again, all true facts about the Kindle Fire, none of which matter. In these troubled times, and possibly even before, you need look no further than the $99 TouchPad buying frenzy for the lesson of the tablet market (and maybe every other electronics market, ultimately): it's the price, stupid.
At $199, virtually any mainstream consumer is going to stand next to these two devices, look at them side-by-side, and make a price-conscious decision--and that decision is easier than you might think, as tablet usage starts to sort itself out. Sure, the Kindle Fire lacks a camera for video chat and movie-making. So what? Hardly anyone is doing that with their tablets anyway. No GPS? That's what your phone is for. No Bluetooth? Shrug. It's one hundred and ninety-nine dollars.
The iPad, in even sideways competition with a Kindle Fire, faces the same problem it's always had, but it's a bigger problem now. The problem is that hardly anyone actually needs an iPad. And as tablet usage starts to shake out, it's more and more apparent that a low-cost option with fewer features will actually suit most people's first-world needs. According to a recent Citigroup survey, the vast majority of tablet users use these devices primarily for lightweight entertainment: mostly casual gaming, Web browsing, e-mail, and, increasingly, e-books.
Fully half of tablet users are streaming video. We're also traveling with them like crazy, which means throwing them in bags; taking them to restaurants, which means exposing them to foodstuffs of all sorts; and giving them to our kids, which means, well, you know. Also, 35 percent of respondents to a Staples survey said they use their tablets in the bathroom. I'm just saying, wouldn't you rather that be a $199 tablet than a $500 tablet?
In my opinion, Amazon has kicked off more than a price war, here. It's unquestionably slaughtered every Android tablet on the market, and it's set up a showdown with the iPad that doesn't have to be feature for feature. If anything, Amazon has done what Apple did with the iPad in the first place: create an entirely new market. And the timing simply couldn't be better.
Amazon isn't just in battle with Apple in the tablet space. Amazon is in full assault against several of its competitors including the battle of the e-Book reader space vs Barnes & Noble and online streaming vs Netflix. The battle with Netflix is an interesting one knowing how Netflix has spiraled and how the Hollywood Studios are the ones who really control the content and market.
It is estimated Amazon is losing about $50 for every Kindle Fire sold and then recouping it with services and their products. Kindle Fire really is a walking cash register for Amazon but it is no different than Google and Apple also supplying people with their content and services.
I only have a few questions with the Kindle Fire. The first one is when we are not around a Wi-Fi spot, how seamless and quick is it to download a movie and store them locally? And the other is really about the Amazon Silk browser. I need to see real world results and comparisons with that one.
Most people think $149-$249 is about right for a tablet price which is generally less than how they cost to make. Only two tablets intrigue me this year and they look almost the same. BlackBerry PlayBook or Kindle Fire. Will the PB have the same destiny as the TouchPad? Looks like it. Great OS, slow sales, no content. RIP RIM. I will be watching for any $99 fire sale and for sure won't miss out on it if it happens. A tablet that cost literally $250-$300 to make and we get it for $149-$199 is a good deal the more I think about it no matter if I never considered tablets an absolute necessity like phones and desktop computers.
quote from Savor
"I only have a few questions with the Kindle Fire. The first one is when we are not around a Wi-Fi spot, how seamless and quick is it to download a movie and store them locally? And the other is really about the Amazon Silk browser. I need to see real world results and comparisons with that one."
when not around wifi it will not be downloading anything!
silk browser will not be that great.
"I only have a few questions with the Kindle Fire. The first one is when we are not around a Wi-Fi spot, how seamless and quick is it to download a movie and store them locally? And the other is really about the Amazon Silk browser. I need to see real world results and comparisons with that one."
when not around wifi it will not be downloading anything!
silk browser will not be that great.
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Fire does not have a 3G cell connection like some of the other Kindles, so it can only connect by wifi and, presumably though this has not been highlighted, USB cord.
I do agree with the article you quote. I think this slaughtered the other android tablets. Who is going to stay in this space? Keep in mind that this is just Amazon's first Fire. The next Fire is significantly better and possibly cheaper. Samsung, you don't want to fight a $200 tablet? How are you going to like Fire 2 which will be $175? How about Fire 3 which is $100? Yeah jump into this space and you can be like Dell and HP making increasingly cheaper and cheaper computers at less and less margin, except that one of them can always beat your best price because when they sell a device, they also sell $300 worth of content over the next couple of years. You can't beat that if you are Samsung, RIM or Sony.
Ipad's glory days are over unless apple makes a cheaper version. The HP touchpad taught the entire industry a lesson; even sub par product can sale if it's cheap enough. The touchpad is basically dead but yet it sold every unit at $100. A quick look on craigslist shows that people are selling them between $180 and $250. $199 is the sweat spot for these devices to sale. Ask yourself, do you really need to spend an extra $300 to $600 on a tablet if all you do is watch movies, browse the internet, read books and play games?
Ipad will still sale but only to the hardcore Apple crowd. Your average Joe cares about price and content.
I personally plan on buying 3 which is $600 delivered to my door as Christmas presents for my entire family. If I go the ipad route the cost is $1500. That's enough money left over to replace my aging 42 inch lcd tv and still have money left over.
Ipad will still sale but only to the hardcore Apple crowd. Your average Joe cares about price and content.
I personally plan on buying 3 which is $600 delivered to my door as Christmas presents for my entire family. If I go the ipad route the cost is $1500. That's enough money left over to replace my aging 42 inch lcd tv and still have money left over.
Its interesting how some seem to believe its marketed towards a different audience, sure seems to be marketed towards the same audience to me.
Even further, if businesses were somehow allowed to harness it this could also have a place in retail. Businesses would capitalize on it's price.
While the App store on Apple may have a more established market and many more application choices..well lets face it.. a good chunk of them are just garbage.
Even further, if businesses were somehow allowed to harness it this could also have a place in retail. Businesses would capitalize on it's price.
While the App store on Apple may have a more established market and many more application choices..well lets face it.. a good chunk of them are just garbage.
What do you mean? What would we do without 137 programs that turn the camera LED on so that you can use the Iphone as a flashlight?
The killer app would be the one that lets you use the Iphone as a fleshlight, though....
dude, you are comparing apples (iPad) to oranges (fire). its like comparing honda to kia, both have a market. one is the leader, it works and never breaks, and holds its value, both in resale and user experience. the other is a wannabe. remember, you get what you pay for.
Then Amazon is going to have to address that. They can't just cede 20% of the market to Apple because they don't offer 3G tablet.
Amazon will probably come out with a 4G model shortly.
They'll need to get carriers onboard, though, since the 3G in the existing Kindle is free be very limited.
doesnt matter, the fire will not take from apples business, the fire is a low end neutered device. its a store front for amazon and nothing more.