Amazon tablet could create a stir

Many expect the online retailer to introduce a cheaper Android-based alternative to the iPad, possibly next month.

By MARK W. SMITH, Detroit Free Press

September 12, 2011 at 7:20PM
The Amazon Kindle is responsible for bringing E-ink readers to the masses.
The Amazon Kindle is responsible for bringing E-ink readers to the masses. (Dml - Mct/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Apple has made it look easy with the iPad.

It has sold tens of millions of the tablet computers -- singularly defining an entire category of mobile devices -- as competitors have tried and failed to gain significant traction against it.

But there will likely be a newcomer to the race this fall that could change the tablet industry forever.

Online retail giant Amazon has hinted that it plans to offer its own tablet computer running Google's Android operating system, perhaps as early as October.

Research firm Forrester said recently that it expects Amazon to sell 3 million to 5 million tablets in the fourth quarter this year if it can keep up with the demand.

The main reason: Amazon is willing to sell hardware at a loss.

Amazon's tablet could be priced at $300 or lower, significantly less than the base-level $500 iPad.

Like Apple, Amazon also is in the business of selling e-books, streaming movies and digital music. The more tablets it has in users' hands, the more e-books it can sell to them -- which is where Amazon is hoping to make even more money.

"Amazon's quick ascension in the tablet market will completely disrupt the status quo," said the report's author, Sarah Rotman Epps.

Amazon has sold millions of its Kindle e-readers using this strategy. The Kindle starts at $114 for the ad-supported Wi-Fi version.

The likely success of a tablet from Amazon would be sure to invigorate the Android software system, which has faltered without a compelling piece of hardware.

Several Android tablets have been released this year, but each has landed with a thud -- too heavy, too expensive or just not quite there.

That has kept many software developers from creating apps for Android tablets, which leads even more consumers to choose the iPad.

Google doesn't make an exact count of tablet-optimized apps available, but most educated guesses place it in the low three figures.

Apple has more than 120,000 apps for its tablet.

A blockbuster tablet from Amazon would change things, creating a serious incentive for tablet app developers to work on both platforms.

The prospect of a less expensive Android tablet, especially when paired with the expansive digital media offerings of Amazon, is enough to give a buyer some serious pause this fall.

about the writer

about the writer

MARK W. SMITH, Detroit Free Press