Amazon had one of the most memorable product launches of the year when they announced three new e-readers and the new Kindle Fire tablet. Th Fire android device may resonate with consumers because of the low price but according to Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster, Amazon will likely lose $50 for each Kindle Fire tablet that it sells.
Munster believes that the tablet may do well with customers who like to save money but points out many drawbacks with the device. It does not have 3G, webcams and is 45% smaller in screen size then the Apple iPad. However the device has strength in the Amazon ecosystem. It will have its own appstore, free cloud storage, Silk web browser and Amazon Prime to deliver video streaming. This is how Amazon intends on making money from customers over the long term, by locking them into doing business with the company exclusively. Remember this is an Android tablet but it is much akin to the Nook Color because it has its own proprietary GUI.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
