The Kindle Fire
So Amazon finally unveiled their long-rumoured and recently-confirmed entry to the tablet market, the Kindle Fire.
Priced at $199 USD it’s less than half the price of an iPad. It appears to be about half as capable as an iPad though: half the storage, no cameras, slower hardware, less than half the screen real-estate. Even so, it’s a good price. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray estimates that Amazon is losing $50 on each tablet. They’re taking the gaming console approach with the Kindle Fire: lose money on the device to get a large audience, and make money on selling content.
It’s unlikely steer many customers away from buying an iPad, but it could make things much harder for Android tablets to gain the traction they’ve been trying to get for the last 18 months or so. Amazon should have no trouble selling this device, after all they’re promoting it at the top of every page on their website—the largest online store in the world. I look forward to Amazon showing all the other iPad competitors that the way to success isn’t copying, it’s doing something different.
There’s one catch for anyone outside the US: Most of Amazon’s digital content is available to US customers only.
Here is Amazon can’t offer outside the US:
- Amazon MP3 store
- Amazon AppStore (this is apparently being changed soon)
- Amazon Instant Video Movies and TV
Most of their Kindle books are available outside the US but that’s about it.
No music. No movies. No TV shows. No apps.
Until all of this changes, it’s as good as useless to anyone outside the US.
