From the time of the launch of the first iPad I've been waiting for other vendors to release tablets that worked very similarly but at a lower cost - like the Mac vs the PC. Everything from Apple is overpriced, and the iPad and iPhone are not exceptions. One of the reasons Androids are so competive in the smart phone market is the availability of a variety of models at a variety of price points on multiple phone networks. Want a less expensive smartphone? That would be Android, not iPhone.
But the prices of the the competitor tablets were always way to close to the iPad. We can point to a variety of reasons for that, but if I'm going to have to spend the money I might as well get the flair and stylishness that comes with the iPad. Even if it won't play Flash!
But now comes the Kindle Fire at only $199. True, it doesn't have cellular plans (only Wifi access), a camera or a microphone. And the 7" screen may not be a plus for some potential tablet owners. But that pricepoint is less than 1/2 of the lowest cost iPad at $499. That's going to make a very large difference in sales. From Techcrunch:
But the Kindle Fire is no iPad, and Bezos knows that too. So he is using something else to differentiate the Fire from the iPad: price. The $199 price of the fire surprised almost everyone. It is $300 lower than the cheapest iPad 2. So even if it is not as fully featured, doesn't work as smoothly and will launch with a laughably small number of apps (
less than 1
about 15 percent of the number of apps available on the iPad, which is currently over 100,000), all of that may not matter. Because if it is good enough, millions of people will decide to buy it for $199 instead of spending $499 for an iPad.
It looks like Amazon has already received 95,000 pre-orders - they'll start shipping on November 15, just in time for Christmas.
Here are more links to articles on the new entry in the tablet wars.
Amazon Introduces Tablet That Undercuts iPad’s Price - NYTimes.com:
Retailers bank on Kindle Fire for holidays
Amazon Services, Not Pricing, Is Why the Kindle Fire Is Disruptive
Best Buy slashing HTC Flyer permanently to $299 on 1 October
Tactile tablet prices fall in the United States
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