The Kindle Fire Heats Things Up For The iPad

For over a year we’ve watched the iPad dominate the tablet market. We’ve seen the iPad competition limp along trailing the iPad by miles. Some tablets even just gave up. But with the announcement of Amazon’s Kindle Fire, I think the Apple iPad should start looking over its shoulder.

Many technology experts are predicting the Kindle Fire will not be a game changer for the iPad, but I think differently. First, let’s start with the most obvious, and that’s the price point. In this economy, a $199 tablet sounds good to a lot of people on budget constraints. I’m sure anyone who wanted a tablet but couldn’t plop down more than $300 is going to be looking at the Kindle Fire very closely.

But you get what you pay for right? The answer to that question is yes, and in this case I believe you’re getting a good deal. The Kindle Fire comes without a camera and microphone, but so did the first iPad and that sold like hot cakes. Most people won’t feel they’re missing anything by not having a camera. The Kindle Fire is also smaller. It comes in at 7.5 X 4.7 x 0.45 inches and 14.6 ounces, but I see that as a good thing. It’s lighter and more portable. The Kindle Fire runs on a modified version of Android operating system. While users will be able to run Android apps on the Kindle Fire, they’ll have to buy it from Amazon’s app store. This move seems like Amazon wants to be able to prevent some bad apps from being downloaded onto the Kindle Fire.

One of the biggest things that the Kindle Fire has going for it is that it already has a built in ecosystem of music, books, and movies. That’s one of the biggest advantages that Apple’s iPad had over the other tablets. The iPad is a plug-in to Apple’s multimedia ecosystem. Now the iPad has a competitor who has a strong infrastructure of multimedia to match its own. Mind you, Amazon doesn’t sell as much music or movies as Apple does, but it’s got the muscle power to become a major competitor. Recently, Amazon announced deals with CBS and NBC Universal, which give Amazon access to a bigger digital video library. Amazon Prime members will also “enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows” with their membership.

What also has me going long on the Kindle Fire is that Amazon is really putting thought into how to use its powerful cloud services to enhance its product. The most obvious example of that is its new browser. Amazon has integrated optimization techniques for its browser to make surfing the web faster. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of that from the Kindle Fire. With the weight of a 800-pound cloud service behind it, the Kindle Fire will be hard to push around and is going to easily claim a large piece of tablet turf.

- Newton Lilavois

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September 29th, 2011 | Mara | Comments Off |