Looks like Amazon has figured out how to take a bite out of the proverbial Apple tablet market with the recent launch of its Kindle Fire. The newest Kindle has been Amazon's top seller heading into Christmas, and it appears the Internet giant has put forth the right mix of features, price and user experience that so many other Android-based tablets have failed to do.
If the iPad is the gold standard for tablets, Kindle Fire is the silver standard because for $199, they are flying off the shelves. Amazon took a chance on this price point by actually losing a few bucks per unit. The gamble seems to be working. The newest Kindle has sold millions of units since September and has fired itself into the number two position, albeit miles away from King iPad.
Amazon's bet is that consumers will happily tap their credit card numbers into Amazon's vast library of books, games, music and movies, which should more than make up for their gap in production costs. In fact, a $79 annual subscription to Amazon Prime will give customers a seemingly endless supply of entertainment options to keep their new tablets burning bright.
Kindle Fire is by no means a device that was designed to compete with iPad2, nor could it at such a low price. Instead, Amazon looked at what consumers wanted in a tablet: Web browsing, email, games, music and movies along with its niche market of books, magazines and, of course, Angry Birds. In order to meet budget, they kept a slim 7-inch display, left out the camera and opted for free cloud–based storage as the only option outside of its standard 8 gigs on-board capacity.
Several no-name makers have tried to compete for this entry-level market but with inferior products. There is nothing more annoying than a touchscreen device with a lousy touchscreen and weak display. The Kindle Fire sports a responsive and rich screen that renders in 1024 X 600, while its dual-core processor ensures speedy navigation. Its bookshelf-styled interface takes a little getting used to but certainly makes sense.
Rightfully, Kindle fans might be upset that the E-ink display that redefined reading books on previous models was replaced. While this was meant to be a tablet/e-reader hybrid, the scale certainly seems to tilt toward the former.
The science project for me was watching the Fire in action at a local big-box retailer. The device quickly stands out as the best value between the iPad2, cheap knock-offs and a sea of traditional Android offerings. Kindle Fires were literally flying off the shelf. Employees were restocking the shelf for what they said was the second time that morning. The scene compelled me to put one in my buggy.
It's a safe bet to say that there will be a Fire under a lot of trees today.
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