With The Kindle Fire, Amazon Faces Down iPad And Android Tablets

A touchscreen Android (2.3) tablet at $199? This is what Amazon has announced this week. The aim is to provide a device that can centralise the company's whole online offer.


The provisional figure for tablet sales for 2011 is likely to be more than double that for electronic books: 62 million compared to 26 million (IDC). Naturally, Amazon, with a strong hold on the reader market already, wasn't going to leave the tablet market alone for long.

The market leader for sales of electronic books in the United States is now making its entry into tablets. The Kindle Fire will cost half the current asking price for the iPad 2. Amazon has decided to encroach on the ground held by Apple, still the market leader in the sector with a market share of 69% for the iPad, but already under attack from a few Android tablets.


The Kindle Fire weighs 440 grammes, has a 7-inch colour touchscreen, 8 GB of memory as well as online storage provided by Amazon and a free 30-day trial of the Amazon Prime service which gives access to online video streaming and free delivery charges for all Amazon orders.

The Amazon Silk browser will be provided for Internet browsing, though even before release, there has been some debate about it: it's reported to follow users' tastes to allow Amazon to better service their requests.

Lastly, battery life has been announced at 8 hours, which is a little down on what you get with the iPad 2.

Lost leader

The Kindle Fire's attractive asking price means there's no 3G connection or photo/video sensor. By pricing it at $199, Amazon is selling its tablet at a loss (production costs are estimated at $250) but hopes to give a shot in the arm to content sales and other services to make up for this.
 

According to the first reactions from market specialists, Amazon's tablet with its rich ecosystem ought to manage to make an impact on the market.
 
The Amazon tablet will only be on sale in the United States at first, as of mid-November.


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