The Kindle Fire looks to have the price, services and marketing muscle to take significant share of a US tablet market thus far dominated by the iPad.
Amazon, with its music, video and eBook services in the US can capitalise on the key usage of tablets as consumption devices, although its weaker offerings abroad would be one reason the Fire will have no international launch this year.
At $199 and with a 7in screen, it does not compete head-on with the iPad 2, which costs at least $300 more and has a 9.7in screen.
This is a smart move. The Fire appeals to consumers looking for a more affordable tablet and could even be bought as a second more portable option by iPad owners, who could carry the Fire just when they want to consume content on the go.
Android tablets have been uninspiring up to now in presenting a desktop operating system look to their main screens, which often means a paucity of content,apps and services behind the device.
With the Fire’s interface, content is front and centre and brings the tablet to life, with Amazon building on the bookshelf metaphor of eReaders to add every kind of content.
Most recently accessed items feature on the home screen – above the bookshelf there is a moving carousel of web pages, apps from Amazon’s own Android Market, games, books, magazines, films and music.
This will be a killer device for locking in consumers into purchasing media from Amazon’s stores – it comes with the user’s Amazon account already pre-configured on it.
Amazon is also leveraging the power of its cloud services with features such as Amazon Silk – a faster web browsing experience.
The tablet lacks a camera, but this is not a must-have feature on such a device. More important are the dual-core processor, vibrant screen and its weight of less than 1lb. The Fire seems set to be a holiday hit when it goes on sale on November 15.
Amazon also announced three other Kindles that will help it compete better with Barnes & Noble Nook devices in the US and the new Sony Reader internationally.
The basic Kindle undercuts its competitors on price at $79 – this model is available immediately internationally, costing #89 in the UK. It is 30 per cent lighter than the previous model and 18 per cent smaller.
The $99 Kindle Touch, available in the US on November 21, loses the familiar Kindle keyboard and takes on B&N’s Nook Touch. It will be interesting to see if the Nook’s price is reduced from $139 in the next few weeks and its $249 Nook Color may also need a price cut to compete with the $199 Fire.
For $149, the Kindle Touch 3G has less appeal – it adds a free 3G connection that can be used in 100 countries, but only for downloading books.
