The REAL reason behind Amazon's $50 tablet

[frahse]

"
Munster: The REAL reason behind Amazon's $50 tablet
Fred Imbert | @foimbert

Amazon's strategy regarding its new tablet does not center around sales, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Thursday.

"It's about trying to enable a lot of their other products, including Prime," Munster said in a CNBC "Squawk Alley" interview."

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/17/munst...50-tablet.html

Amazon is always selling "Amazon!"

[Cinisajoy]

That is news?
Seems I heard the same thing about their ereaders.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

That is news?
Seems I heard the same thing about their ereaders.

Sometimes the news is that the story doesn't change which usually means that the strategy is working.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by frahse

Sometimes the news is that the story doesn't change which usually means that the strategy is working.

But in this case there *is* a change: instead of tying to promote use of their services by building premium tablets they've turned away from the high end and moved way down market.

The message *I* get is they see a train wreck coming to Premium Android tablets and they're trying to stay out of the way of the wreckage.

This is not the first indicator out there of impending disaster for that segment: I look around and I see the Surface 3 at $499 and the Asus T100 CHI running $279-300 and a bit lower I see the ZenPad C at $199. The first two are premium convertible computers (of which there's a slew in the $400-500 space) and the latter a high spec Android tablet.

And then I see B&N trying to sell high-end Samsungs at $399.
By now, every time I see B&N go in one direction on Hardware I expect the market to run in the opposite direction.

The tablet bubble is just about ready to pop and while Apple will always sell because it is Apple and WinTabs will sell because they're computers, Android has a tougher row to hoe. Their message has to be price.

I think that anybody looking for a premium Android tablet should wait if they can. By next march, if not sooner, a lot of those $400 tablets are going to be moving at $250 or lower. If they're moving at all.

If I'm right, by this time next year "Premium Android" will be an oxymoron when it comes to tablets.

[pwalker8]

Amazon uses the Walmart model, i.e. cutting prices and squeezing the suppliers. From that stand point, a cheap tablet makes sense.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Amazon uses the Walmart model, i.e. cutting prices and squeezing the suppliers. From that stand point, a cheap tablet makes sense.

Walmart and RCA have a 10 inch for $99.
It is the lollipop.

They also raised the price of Prime subscription last year, and the shipping fees are always creeping up. Guess their profit margin is not as high as they want.

[HarryT]

They raised the price, but gave you more for it. That's a model that seems to work for them.

[fjtorres]

Lost in the hardware dissection of the new tablets is what Amazon Underground brings to the table:

http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/0...rk-for-ebooks/

Remember when Kindle with special offers was an experiment? It quickly became the baseline for Kindles.
Kindle Unlimited was derided for not including much tradpub content, yet KU has become surprisingly significant in a surprisingly short time. It is now paying out each month more that Nook grosses.

Amazon Underground might just do the same.

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[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Walmart and RCA have a 10 inch for $99.
It is the lollipop.

Yeah, but is it the super cheap (crap) screen that DigiLand uses on their tablets? If it is, it's not worth $20.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Yeah, but is it the super cheap (crap) screen that DigiLand uses on their tablets? If it is, it's not worth $20.

These guys are offering IPS panels now in many products. Here's a 10 inch. Click on Specification.

http://www.digi-land.net/En/Photo_Sh...Id=44&Topid=43

I'm still thinking Amazon is using them.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Lost in the hardware dissection of the new tablets is what Amazon Underground brings to the table:
.

Speaking of which, what happened to the Amazon appstore app for Android (generic, not the fire). I used to have an app just for the Amazon app store. Somehow I lost it and now I have an Amazon app that includes everything -- books, movies, music, apps, diapers.

I liked the appstore-only app because it was easier to find apps and it used a dark theme.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Barty

Speaking of which, what happened to the Amazon appstore app for Android (generic, not the fire). I used to have an app just for the Amazon app store. Somehow I lost it and now I have an Amazon app that includes everything -- books, movies, music, apps, diapers.

I liked the appstore-only app because it was easier to find apps and it used a dark theme.

You might look for Amazon Underground.
Let me look at Google Play right quick for the Amazon app store app.

It appears to have vanished.
Looked at both Amazon and GP.

[Alpha o]

Appstore for Android still on Amazon although they are pushing underground.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/get/an...ref=mas_rw_gts