Amazon took a whopping 95,000 pre-orders for its new Kindle Fire tablet in its first day on sale and analysts believe the company is going to enjoy strong sales during the upcoming holiday season, reports Fox News.
Apple’s iPad 2, which starts at $499, accounts for three out of every four tablets sold. Other tablets make up a small percentage of the market, including the Motorola Xoom which is $499 for the Wi-Fi only version and the BlackBerry PlayBook, which had been listed at $499 but is now on sale for $200 less.
The Kindle Fire, however, is busting onto the scene at only $199, a price point that is actually less than Amazon’s cost to make it. InformationWeek reports that a breakdown of the components used in Kindle Fire shows Amazon is losing about $10 per tablet sold, demonstrating that the e-merchant sees the device not as a profit center but as a way to sell subscription media services and physical goods.
Forrester Research predicts Amazon could sell 3 million units by year’s end. Meanwhile, Apple has sold nearly 29 million iPads since it released the first one last year.
While the Wi-Fi-only Fire is smaller than the iPad and doesn’t have a camera, the new tablet is much lighter and can be comfortably held in one hand. And unlike the iPad, the Fire updates wirelessly and supports Adobe’s Flash.
The Kindle Fire starts shipping Nov. 15.
Read more at Fox News and InformationWeek.
