Case Study of Apple

iPad Prospects After the Kindle Fire: 65% Market Share and Most of the Profits
par4par“But, in comparison with the iPad, the Kindle Fire has a 33 percent smaller display, no cameras, no 3G wireless, less memory and only two-finger multi-touc [...]
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“But, in comparison with the iPad, the Kindle Fire has a 33 percent smaller display, no cameras, no 3G wireless, less memory and only two-finger multi-touc [...]
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduces the Kindle Fire (Image by AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)
Jeff Bezos unveiled the $199 Kindle Fire this morning with great fanfare, but a closer look should disappoint those looking for an iPad killer. The Kindle Fire is poised to nibble at Apple’s market share. But this low-cost and under-powered tablet is more likely to suffocate its Android-based brethren than the iPad and actually should cement Apple’s dominance of the general-purpose tablet market.
On the plus side, the Kindle Fire has a custom Amazon user interface that supports tight integration with Amazon’s content and media apps. It also includes one month’s free subscription to Amazon Prime (a $6.58 value!), which includes free 2-day shipping and some free streaming video access. In short, at $199, the Kindle Fire is an attractive Amazon shopping and content consumption device.
But, in comparison with the iPad, the Kindle Fire has a 33 percent smaller display, no cameras, no 3G wireless, less memory and only two-finger multi-touch (thus limiting its gaming capabilities).
As a result, the Kindle Fire will be in direct competition with Barnes & Noble’s Color Nook, which to date has owned the color e-reader niche. The new tablet should also be attractive to current Kindle customers who are not wedded to the high contrast E Ink screen (which has less glare and is great for outdoor reading). And the Kindle fire should draw price-sensitive, entry-level tablet users. But I suspect that the... [continues]

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