Quote:
Originally Posted by Top100EbooksRank
Those are expensive.
With a smaller tablet (5.5" vs. 7"), it might be possible to make and retail a $149 tablet.
Isn't the Nook at $179 right now? When the Kindle Fire 2 come out, the price for the Kindle Fire 1 might drop to $159 or even $149.
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Different business model. Google sell the Nexus 7 at-or-near-cost in order to get their advertising in front of more eyeballs. Amazon uses at-or-near-cost Kindle Fire as a conduit to Amazon.com, so as you say, profits from those sales; Samsung tries to make profit on the hardware itself.
Previous attempts at ~5" tablets/media players (Dell streak, and ummm... Elonex??) didn't exactly set the market alight, though to be fair that was a little while back, so in a world more familiar with clown-shoe-sized phones they may fare better being cheaper; I'd expect them to remain a niche product, though if they were priced cheaply enough they could probably sell as a third device for those times when your big phone is too small and your small tablet's too big.
Yeah, those times don't come around all that often really, do they??