With recent reports, there is an indication that the Amazon Kindle’s price is much cheaper than iPad. Taking into account the current economic situation, many consumers do not want to spend $500 to buy a tablet, the price advantage will help the popularity of the Amazon tablet.
While HP moving out of tablets' market was a surprise so is Amazon possibly entering this market. Amazon is uniquely well position due to large customer base for Kindle and name brand recognition. The question is how much software can subsidize hardware and is it leagal? That move by Amazon will be very interesting.
Bolaji, I agree with you: Apple is also winning because it's very price competitive. Any device that has more-or-less the same ballpark specs as an iPad also ends up being in the same ballpark price-wise. Some are a little cheaper, some are a little more expensive, but there's nothing out there that is essentially a near-iPad clone that runs Android and is $399.
Amazon entering the market is super interesting, and they're the best positioned to compete against Apple. My big question is... what price point are they going to launch with? $499 is an impossibility. $399? Hmm. That sounds about right, but it's worth noting that the Kindle DX -- which is essentially the same screen size as an iPad 2 -- is currently selling for $379.
Now I know that Kindle price drops and new models are on their way, but on one hand it seems a little ambitious to think that Amazon can launch a viable iPad competitor for $399. Yet the essentially need to be at this price point... and maybe even cheaper than that! $349? I think that's probably just about right: $349 for the base model, maybe it's only 8 GB or something.
Anyhow, this is why in an earlier post I speculated that the TouchPad wouldn't be the best tablet deal you'd see all year, because if Amazon comes in with an aggressively priced tablet -- as you point out -- where is this going to leave Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Samsung, Lenovo, Motorola, etc.? At least one of them is going to slash prices and abandon ship if their inventory isn't moving.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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