Amazon has announced that in less than a year, they have sold out of Kindle Fires, the company’s first 7-inch color e-reader/tablet hybrid, which runs on Google’s Android operating system, albeit a heavily modified one. In that same period, they’ve managed to grab 22% of the tablet market, a feat that no other Android tablet has managed to do against the behemoth that is Apple’s iPad.
“Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead–we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability and the best content ecosystem,” Bezos said in a prepared statement.
But the fact that they’ve sold out, shouldn’t be a problem as it’s heavily rumored that Amazon is preparing to announce a successor to the Kindle Fire at an event that is already scheduled for September 6. This time around may not be so easy for Amazon, as last year they were the only tablet of that size and price range, becoming almost irresistible to consumers. This year however is a little different, Amazon is already battling the Nexus 7 from Google, which is priced exactly the same, but also offers a 16GB version for $50 more than the 8GB model. But come October, a familiar competitor may rear its ugly head, but with a twist, Apple is rumored to debut a 7-inch iPad that is priced so competitively, Amazon may have a difficult road ahead. It was easy for Amazon to compete when its tablet had a price tag that was $300 lower than the iPad, but how will they fair if Apple is the same price or even $50 more?
Will Amazon announce new hardware that is so compelling that consumers can’t resist it yet again or will the Seattle based company once again undercut its competitors by dropping the price of the next Kindle Fire and continue to take a loss on hardware and simply remain content on making money on software, services and ebooks? I guess we’ll find out on September 6.