UPDATE: Amazon surprised all today by announcing it is shipping the Amazon Kindle Fire a day early — that’s today in the United States. This four days after it reminded customers it would ship tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 15. Fake!
This a.m. Amazon issued a press release on its 7-inch $199 tablet, which Amazon says will be tightly integrated with its Amazon Cloud digital storage system for the some 18 million movies, shows, books and other digital content the Seattle giant hopes to push through its entry-level and first tablet.
Analysts speculate Amazon is pricing the tablet so cheaply in part to tackle the $499 Apple iPad 2 this holiday season — and it expects to recoup the loss through sales of Amazon goods, media and services. Now that is what I call a loss leader.
In its announcement, Amazon Kindle VP Dave Limp underlined that price point, so far unmatched. “It is a premium product at the non-premium price of only $199,” Limp said. “Based on customer response we’re building millions more than we had planned. Here’s Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos listing off the specs at the Kindle Fire announcement in New York last month. Can it deliver? You decide.
Video: Telegraph.uk.com
There’s a lot of pent up desire to kick the tires on this long-rumored tablet, which arrives along with several other hotly awaited tablets, e-readers (the Barnes&Noble Nook is now shipping earlier than it planned also) and smartphones arriving this week.
How will it fare in a market Apple has so far dominated? The Kindle Fire is potentially a menace and threat to Apple, a fact I’m sure is lost on no one in Cupertino. It’s a direct shot at Apple. My colleague at aNewDomain, Dino Londis, has a different theory.
If Amazon delivers what it is promising, which amounts to a lot of bang for the buck, consumers will see cheaper, better tablets as competition actually heats up.
Here are some Amazon Kindle Fire (seven-inch) specs in case you missed them in the fury of the announce event. This is a My sources in Asia have been telling me this is the first of at least three tablets of different form factors planned for the Amazon Kindle fire. The current model is a 1GHz dual-core system that will work seamlessly with Amazon’s built-in browser (Silk), Amazon Web Services cloud (free with purchase) and a year’s worth of Amazon Prime membership.
Source: Amazon online Kindle Fire product technical specifications.
