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Amazon’s new US$50 tablet bid to sap Apple
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AMAZON is dangling a US$50 tablet computer in its latest attempt to lure consumers who can’t afford or don’t want the more expensive Internet-connected devices made by Apple and other rivals.
The 7-inch Fire tablet unveiled yesterday marks Amazon’s most aggressive attempt yet to undercut Apple, which has been the market leader since its first iPad went on sale five years ago. The least expensive iPad Mini, which has an 8-inch screen, sells for US$270.
Amazon.com Inc isn’t trying to persuade anyone that its cheap tablet matches the quality of its own sleeker, higher-priced Fire HD alternatives, let alone the top-selling iPad line.
But the Seattle company is counting on the new tablet’s low price to encourage more people to buy a device that will hook them on watching video, reading books, playing games and shopping on a computer that’s easy to carry wherever they go.
In the process, Amazon is hoping consumers will buy more digital goods and merchandise from its store while also subscribing to its US$100 per year Prime service that offers a mix of videos, music and free shipping.
“Our tablet focus is in and around content consumption,” said David Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices.
As with its previous low-priced tablets, the new Fire device will show ads on its screen saver. Avoiding the ads will cost an additional US$15.
The discount tablet will debut amid a slump in the sale of the devices. The downturn suggests consumers who already own a tablet see little need to upgrade and those that don’t have one either aren’t interested in the devices or can’t afford one.
Apple’s iPad sales have been falling since 2013, spurring the company to sell more of its tablets to corporate customers and government agencies. Industrywide, global sales of tablets during the three months ending in June fell 7 percent from the same time last year to 44.7 million units, according to International Data Corp.
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