Amazon Tablet to Be Launched on Wednesday, Cheaper than Kindle?
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The next Amazon event is just a few sleeps away and is expected to deliver the official release of the Amazon Kindle tablet. Backed by the brand-power and recognition Amazon can offer, this new tablet is expected to be one of the first serious contenders to the iPad.
With a price rumored around $170 USD, this device may be hard to resist for those of you who haven’t yet taken the plunge into tablet ownership.
At this point, specifics are all just speculation, but the first generation of this new Kindle is expected to have a 7″ screen, a format that has never performed overly well in the retail market. It is also expected that these tablets will be running a highly customized version of Google’s Android operating system.
At the end of the day, this tablet could very well be little more than an update with a color touchscreen to their existing Kindle. By cannibalizing the price of the unit itself they are making a clear statement that their primary goal is media sales and I think we can expect that as such the operating system customizations we have heard so much about likely support this strategy.
Some press agencies are reporting that Apple is already fearing this tablet, but let’s not be ridiculous. People aren’t choosing iPads based on their price: they are buying a brand. It is the same reason Harley Davidson motorcycles are still sold today. If anybody should be afraid, it should be the other Android tablet manufacturers out there. Those competitors are going to have to change their marketing schemes to find a way to justify why their tablets with the same operating system and the same app store are worth hundreds of additional dollars… and do it in such a way that it reaches the right types of consumers.
And let’s not forget that every time a new tablet is introduced, Apple gets a considerable amount of attention. The old saying that there is no such thing as bad press may apply and backfire on Amazon.
Will the new Amazon Kindle tablet be a success? Will people be enchanted by the idea of a device so fully integrated with Amazon, or will they see it as a potential hindrance or restriction? Do the old cliches apply (you get what you pay for…)?
