The hype of tablets has achieved a new high as Amazon announced their new signature color ebook reader, the Kindle Fire. But is this $199 reader really going to cut itself a slice of the tablet market? Even with heavy competition from major firms in the tech industry, such as RIM, HP, Apple, amongst others, Sunil Gupta, a columnist of the Havard Business Review, believes that it WILL succeed.
Here are what I consider as the top five of the ten reasons he suggested:
- Kindle Fire is more “work” than “play”. It is considered more as a “service than a device”.
- Good relationships with Google and Adobe
- “Publishers and other content providers are also keen to see Amazon succeed”
- Can link related services, like Amazon Plus
- “Fire will help Amazon leverage its new and growing video streaming business”
- Rapid growth in Android app development
However, it seems that the Fire lacks significant technologies that major competitors have on their devices. The iPad, which currently dominates the market, is faster, more versatile and has more hardware features. Therefore, does the Fire, even though Amazon claims it to be “different”, have the specifications in order to compete with other brands or is Amazon simply engaging in a price war?
Full Article
http://blogs.hbr.org/hbsfaculty/2011/10/ten-reasons-amazon-kindle-fire.html