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So, the Kindle Fire grabbed 54.5% of the Android market share

How is it a resounding success?

There are only two possible scenarios to begin with:
1) Some Android device captures a majority of Android market share
2) Android market share is divided amongst a number of devices which each hold a minority share
 
"IDC says Amazon shipped just shy of 5 million units in the fourth quarter of last year."

That's just after it was released.

Can't say nothin' good about the competition.
 
Yr Blues said:
"IDC says Amazon shipped just shy of 5 million units in the fourth quarter of last year."

That's just after it was released.
Click to expand...

What does that have to do with market share being the indicator of resounding success? Or are you just going to move the goalposts, change your initial point two posts in, and throw out whatever sticks?
 
Proving once again its the content that matters, not specs. Amazon's smart. Give the Fire away at cost. Make money on the content. I actually buy stuff from Amazon. I think the Nook tablet has better hardware than the Fire, but I'd never buy anything from B&N.

It's a similar story with the iPad, albeit Apple doesn't give it away. They make hefty margins. Up until the retina display, most Android tablet hardware was superior to any iPad. But it's iOS and the app store that makes the iPad the most popular tablet.

Two smart companies (Apple and Amazon).
 
Cool. So Amazon did not confirm any actual sale of kindle fires in their earnings report.

54% of android tablets is a lot. But what is the actual market share of the kindle fire compared to the iPad?

What's really concerning is Amazon is operating on razor thin margins. They made only a 130 million dollar profit last quarter on 13 billion revenue.

Apple made a 11 billion dollar profit.

Think about that. How long can they afford to sell the kindle fire for at cost or at a lost?
 
aneftp said:
Cool. So Amazon did not confirm any actual sale of kindle fires in their earnings report.

54% of android tablets is a lot. But what is the actual market share of the kindle fire compared to the iPad?

What's really concerning is Amazon is operating on razor thin margins. They made only a 130 million dollar profit last quarter on 13 billion revenue.

Apple made a 11 billion dollar profit.

Think about that. How long can they afford to sell the kindle fire for at cost or at a lost?
Click to expand...

Most retail vendors particularly web, but brick and mortar as well work on razer thin margins. Survive on volume.
 
aneftp said:
Think about that. How long can they afford to sell the kindle fire for at cost or at a lost?
Click to expand...

Everyone knows it's all about Amazon Prime and getting customers to buy stuff from Amazon with the free 2 day shipping. That's a heck of a deal.

If I was Amazon, I'd stick advertising on the wallpaper or lock screens to further subsidize the cost. I don't think they care about making a profit on the hardware.

Apple relies on hardware profits.
 
I don't personally own a kindle, but I have given a few out as Birthday Gifts. They're cheap enough and people seem to like them. I did buy one for myself, but didn't like it so I gave it to my sister. So yes, I do believe these are selling like hotcakes. These things are dirt cheap. I think we're also forgetting that many people don't care about being able to install apps like omnifocus, evernote, etc... They just want easy access to the internet. I also don't think android has anything to worry about, their foot is in the door. Anyway, as far as Amazons business model is concerned, I do think it's pretty crazy that their hedging their bets on selling tech gadgets at a loss and trying to make up the loss in retail sales. Especially considering that their profit margins are something like 1.46%
 
japasneezemonk said:
I don't personally own a kindle, but I have given a few out as Birthday Gifts.
Click to expand...

That's huge, actually. Around the holidays you could give 2-3 Kindles as gifts instead of just 1 iPad. A nice stocking-stuffer if not a premium product.
 
aneftp said:
Cool. So Amazon did not confirm any actual sale of kindle fires in their earnings report.

54% of android tablets is a lot. But what is the actual market share of the kindle fire compared to the iPad?

What's really concerning is Amazon is operating on razor thin margins. They made only a 130 million dollar profit last quarter on 13 billion revenue.

Apple made a 11 billion dollar profit.

Think about that. How long can they afford to sell the kindle fire for at cost or at a lost?
Click to expand...

Forever. Video game systems (for the most part) are initially sold at a loss and they make it back on content. Same thing here. The Fire will either go down in production cost (adding profit), Amazon will measure it's success by content sales, or will introduce an updated model that is more profitable (either by lower cost production or a higher price).
 
game-pie.jpg


Comparing the Console Model to Amazon is not as easy as it seems. Especially considering Amazons goal of working with razor thin margins.

If what this chart states is true, then yes, it makes sense for Sony or Microsoft to sell their consoles at a loss, since they make a huge chunk of (%) profit from the top grossing video games. Call of Duty:Black Ops sold 7 million copies on its first day on store shelves. My guess is that these 7 million units were being sold at full price on day one.

When it comes to content, like movies and tv shows, Amazon is licensing these from their respective creators, so they pay to be able to have the content at their disposal. Streaming the content is cheap, but the content deals are expensive. I'm still not sure how Amazon plans to make money on the streaming content services. My guess is that most Amazon Prime subscribers that aren't using the streaming services are subsidizing those who do.

At the end of the day though, who knows what will happen.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In our limited customer base, the Kindle Fire replaced a Kindle Reader for virtually all of the users who completed the survey (12,000).

Not a huge surprise, and hardly a revolution in the Android market if this was the initial 5m unit sales thrust.
 
Think of the Fire as a printer and the content as ink. Amazon is in the business of selling ink.
 
Since Amazon (or any other Android tablet maker) refuses to provide sales figures how do we know what percentage market share they have. With Amazon you can probably assume shipped equals sold but again without Amazon providing figures where are these analysts getting their estimates from?
 
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