Amazon to capture "entertainment" tablet market

[L.J. Sellers]

Near the end of this article, the author makes the case that most tablet users don't buy the device for business use, and that Amazon is poised to capture those consumers through price.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/te...ines&emc=tha26

[pastanley]

Still too early to tell. However I would like to see Apple offer "specials" like Amazon does with its Prime Membership. On the other hand, IOS 5 is just around the corner. Looks like the next couple of weeks is going to be a whilrwind for the ereader/tablet markets! Looking forward to it....

[OtterBooks]

deal with 20th Century Fox. hmm

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pastanley

Still too early to tell. However I would like to see Apple offer "specials" like Amazon does with its Prime Membership. On the other hand, IOS 5 is just around the corner. Looks like the next couple of weeks is going to be a whilrwind for the ereader/tablet markets! Looking forward to it....

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...-jpmorgan.html

Apple is apparently cutting back iPad production by 25%, for the XMAS season.
Probably has more to do with the looming depression than Amazon, though.

Regardless, it's going to be interesting to see what Amazon/B&N/Kobo are bringing out for XMAS.

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

deal with 20th Century Fox. hmm

Reading this article makes it sound like Amazon will have two video services. The Prime video service only had a paltry 10,000 videos, while the non-Prime Amazon Instant Video service has over 100,000 videos. At least that is the way I read their press release.

[taustin]

If the price does come out to be comprable to the color nook, I doubt that Amazon will grap that much of the market with a heck of a fight. On the other hand, B&N has done a fairly poor job so far at servicing any market other than ebooks with the color nook, and Amazon is a tough competitor, so a heck of a fight might be just what they have in mind.

[charmian]

"Amazon’s willingness to sell the Kindle e-reader at a loss — it dropped to $114 from $399 in less than four years — will doubtless be duplicated with its tablets. "

Is this a known fact?

"Mr. DiClemente, the Barclays analyst, is another Amazon skeptic. He thinks it will sell two million units this year. “The great thing about the Kindle is that it was really the first e-reader,” he said. “With the tablet, Amazon is a follower. That’s never as good.” "

But the Kindle wasn't the first e-reader.

I agree with the skeptics, though. The smaller screen is a definite "no" factor for me. I might have considered it if it had been 10". IIRC, the processor is one of the most expensive parts. Will Amazon offer graphics and processing power comparable to the iPad's?

I also wonder, though, whether Amazon will subsidize the cost with ad-support. I'm thinking they will, and possibly that might give them the ability to offer it at an even lower price.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by charmian

"Amazon’s willingness to sell the Kindle e-reader at a loss — it dropped to $114 from $399 in less than four years — will doubtless be duplicated with its tablets. "

Is this a known fact?

"Mr. DiClemente, the Barclays analyst, is another Amazon skeptic. He thinks it will sell two million units this year. “The great thing about the Kindle is that it was really the first e-reader,” he said. “With the tablet, Amazon is a follower. That’s never as good.” "

But the Kindle wasn't the first e-reader.

I agree with the skeptics, though. The smaller screen is a definite "no" factor for me. I might have considered it if it had been 10". IIRC, the processor is one of the most expensive parts. Will Amazon offer graphics and processing power comparable to the iPad's?

I also wonder, though, whether Amazon will subsidize the cost with ad-support. I'm thinking they will, and possibly that might give them the ability to offer it at an even lower price.

I think they did get some facts wrong. According to the rumors, Amazon is coming out with a 10" tablet next year. That will be the iPad competitor. I expect the the 7" tablet to have specs similar to the Nook Color.

Amazon may very will do a Special Offers version of its tablets to lower costs.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by charmian

I agree with the skeptics, though. The smaller screen is a definite "no" factor for me. I might have considered it if it had been 10". IIRC, the processor is one of the most expensive parts. Will Amazon offer graphics and processing power comparable to the iPad's?

I only buy 10" tablets priced at $99 and lower.

[avariel]

Originally Posted by stonetools

I think they did get some facts wrong. According to the rumors, Amazon is coming out with a 10" tablet next year. That will be the iPad competitor. I expect the the 7" tablet to have specs similar to the Nook Color.

Amazon may very will do a Special Offers version of its tablets to lower costs.

If it has the specs of a Nook Color at the price of the Nook Color, it is going to be a failure. The NC is almost a year old and rumors state the NC2 is right around the corner.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...-jpmorgan.html

Apple is apparently cutting back iPad production by 25%, for the XMAS season.
Probably has more to do with the looming depression than Amazon, though.

Regardless, it's going to be interesting to see what Amazon/B&N/Kobo are bringing out for XMAS.

Unless that was just for Hon Hai orders.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by charmian

"Amazon’s willingness to sell the Kindle e-reader at a loss — it dropped to $114 from $399 in less than four years — will doubtless be duplicated with its tablets. "

Is this a known fact?

"Mr. DiClemente, the Barclays analyst, is another Amazon skeptic. He thinks it will sell two million units this year. “The great thing about the Kindle is that it was really the first e-reader,” he said. “With the tablet, Amazon is a follower. That’s never as good.” "

But the Kindle wasn't the first e-reader.

People don't seem to know whether Amazon is making a profit on the device or not. One day I'll hear Amazon makes tons of revenue from hardware and another I'll hear they're taking a loss in order to sell content. I never see either claim cited with hard facts.

Then there is this "Amazon is so different from Apple because their plan is to make money from content", etc etc, as if the iTunes store does not exist.

...and the "first e-reader" comment.

I'm beginning to think that these market analysts make a living by literally just making stuff up and hopping it turns out correct, or that nobody notices when it isn't.
Same with the journalists who quote them.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

People don't seem to know whether Amazon is making a profit on the device or not. One day I'll hear Amazon makes tons of revenue from hardware and another I'll hear they're taking a loss in order to sell content. I never see either claim cited with hard facts.

The simple answer is that Amazon doesn't break out hardware sales from their earnings, along with profit/loss figures, so everyone is in fact guessing.

I do know that as of 2009, Bezos made clear he was not interested in selling the Kindle at a loss, unless customers demanded it:

But, Bezos told Wired’s Steven Levy at Wired’s Disruptive by Design conference in New York, it’s cheaper in the long run for customers to pay something akin to the actual cost for hardware. And fees and minimum purchase requirements create friction.

“We did consider [the cellphone model] for Kindle,” Bezos said in an interview with Wired’s Steven Levy at Wired’s Disruptive by Design Conference in New York. “Instead of driving the cognitive complexity of a two-year commitment, [we] just tell people, ‘This is the actual cost of the device,’” he said.

Of course, the price has dropped since then.

[MsCG1]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I only buy 10" tablets priced at $99 and lower.

lol

What?

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by avariel

If it has the specs of a Nook Color at the price of the Nook Color, it is going to be a failure. The NC is almost a year old and rumors state the NC2 is right around the corner.

Well , a bump up from the original NC .But that won't matter that much, and it will definitely not be a failure.
What's really going to sell the Amazon tablet is not specs, but the Amazon ecosystem.
If you look at the Kindle, its specs are no better than the other e-ink readers and its design is like something out of 1985.Yet it connects smoothly and simply to the world's best ebook store. That's why it dominates.