Amazon unveiled new models of its Kindle Fire
tablet computer, including a bigger version with a high-definition
display, in a clear challenge to the market-leading iPad.
Analysts said the Amazon upgrades -- as well
as launching the hugely popular Fire devices outside the US, starting in
Europe later this year -- signaled the online giant has its sights on
challenging Apple's longstanding dominance.
The new Kindle Fire HD will be offered with
an 8.9-inch (22.6-centimeter) display, along with an upgraded version of
the tablet launched in a smaller format last year, said Amazon founder
and chief executive Jeff Bezos.
"Kindle Fire HD is not only the most advanced hardware, it's also a service," Bezos told reporters in Santa Monica, California.
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, gives a press
conference in Santa Monica, California. Analysts said the Amazon
upgrades -- as well as launching the hugely popular Fire devices outside
the US, starting in Europe later this year -- signaled the online giant
has its sights on challenging Apple's longstanding dominance.
"When combined with our enormous content
ecosystem, unmatched cross-platform interoperability and
standard-setting customer service, we hope people will agree that Kindle
Fire HD is the best high-end tablet anywhere, at any price."
Analyst and consultant Rob Enderle tweeted:
"Is Amazon the New Apple? I think Amazon just stole the tablet market,"
adding that for "the key uses of a tablet -- reading, games, movies --
Amazon is now better in all three."
Industry analyst Jeff Kagan said Kindle Fire
"is bigger, stronger and better than before and will compete more
directly with the big guys on the playing field."
The large-display tablet is only 0.3 inches
thick, and weighs 20 ounces (567 grams). The Kindle Fire HD has
dual-band Wi-Fi and two antennas.
Bezos said the upgraded Wi-Fi specifications
and increased processing clout would make it run 41 percent faster than
the latest version of the iPad, launched earlier this year.
Amazon will offer three versions of the tablet.
The seven-inch Kindle Fire HD will cost $199
and ships September 14, while the iPad-challenging larger version, with
16 GB of memory, will cost $299 and go on sale on November 20.
In an even more direct challenge to the iPad,
a 4G version of the larger Kindle Fire HD will sell at $499 -- the same
price as a basic iPad.
Bezos said Amazon kept its prices lower than
many competitors because it wants to make money from selling content,
rather than from devices themselves.
Amazon, which launched the Kindle Fire in
the US market last year, said last week that the first version had
captured 22 percent of the market for tablet computers, although it did
not reveal detailed sales data.
"We want to make money when they use our devices,
not when they buy our devices," he told reporters gathered for a press
conference, the subject of which had been a mystery before the event.
The Kindle Fire HD announcements came after
Bezos unveiled a new Kindle e-reader with so-called "paperwhite"
display. It will have a battery life of eight weeks with the backlight
on, and will ship October 1.
The paperwhite Kindle will retail at $119,
while a 3G mobile version will cost $179. A new version of the basic
Kindle will be reduced in price from $79 to $69.
Amazon, which launched the Kindle Fire in the
US market last year, said last week that the first version had captured
22 percent of the market for tablet computers, although it did not
reveal detailed sales data.
Offering the Kindle Fire outside the US for
the first time, all except the new bigger-screen version will go on sale
later this year in five European countries -- Britain, France, Germany,
Italy and Spain.
"We want to get into as many places as we possibly can over time," Kindle vice president David Limp told AFP.
Apple's iPad has about two thirds of the
global market for tablets, and the company is expected to introduce a
smaller version later this year.
Limp was cautious when asked if the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD was directly aimed at Apple's iPad.
"This is a big market, and I don't want to
speak to competitors. But I think they've had a great run in this
market, and we're super-excited to join," he said. "Customers in the end
will choose how we'll do."
© 2012 AFP
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